Rural school to close after pupils move elsewhere

A small rural primary in southern Scotland is to close after parents decided to move their children to other schools.

Kirkbean Primary is expected to shut its doors at the end of the current academic year and is scheduled to be mothballed.

Residents of the Solway Coast village have described the announcement of the closure as "disastrous".

Head teacher Helen Anderson posted the news on social media, saying they had made the move in order to give the local community "dignity" rather than have closure imposed upon them.

Kirkbean Primary School's latest school roll, from September 2023, was just 11 children.

The site - which first opened its doors in 1860 - was in line to have its future sustainability assessed by Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC) over the next academic year.

However, in an online statement, Ms Anderson confirmed parents of the remaining pupils had now decided to send their children to other schools.

"It gives our school community a little more autonomy and dignity by not having the decision made for us the following year," she said.

"While we appreciate this news will be extremely disappointing, the decision to mothball has not been taken lightly."

DGC confirmed the parental decision to move pupils to other schools due to "very low numbers".

It said it would work with parents and the next steps for the school would be discussed at its education committee.

Alice Rourke, a local community councillor and former pupil, described the news as "disastrous" and said she had "many happy memories" of the school.

She said more should be done to support rural schools.

"The problem is there used to be clubs before and after school for parents who needed to get to work, but now if they work in Dumfries it's easier to take their children to a school there," she said.

"Country schools are really important, but sadly it felt inevitable.

"It was going to be reassessed, and I think this was seen as a better option by the head teacher."

Ronnie Stevenson, secretary of Kirkbean Community Council, called it "sad", adding: "It was probably inevitable with the local population getting older and not younger."

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