The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Community backs bid to save school
Parents, FPs and residents support call to save Balhousie Primary
A community came together yesterday to make an emotional plea to education chiefs to save their beloved school for future generations.
Perth’s Balhousie Primary is one of seven threatened with closure or replacement as part of a hugely controversial review.
Parents have reacted with horror to the prospect of losing the school their children love and have begged the council to keep it open.
Former pupils, shops and even residents at a nearby care home spoke of the devastating impact its closure would have.
The public meeting came as the deputy leader of Perth and Kinross Council announced that she will stand down from her post to concentrate on improving education.
Councillor Caroline Shiers said she had found the task of overseeing the review, the creation of new schools and introducing major Scottish Government education reform was incompatible with a second senior role.
The threat of closure has horrified parents at Perth’s Balhousie Primary, who believe their school remains something special.
They have praised the quality of teaching and what they say is the caring nature of the school.
Balhousie is one of several schools which could face the axe as part of a wide-ranging estates review looking closely at under-capacity schools.
Its future appears to be tied to that of North Muirton Primary, which is also assessed as having too small a school roll and being in need of improvements.
A well-attended public meeting saw parents and members of the community pack the school’s gym hall to express their support for it staying open.
Walls were covered in artwork and words of support from pupils revealing why they love their school.
One wrote alongside their picture of the school “I have lots of friends” while another revealed “I get to play with animals and puppets”.
Eight-year-old Nadia Scigany, meanwhile, wrote simply “It is small and I know everyone”.
Also present at the consultation event were ladies from the nearby Balhousie North Inch/North Grove Care Home.
Pupils have been visiting the care home regularly for many years, taking part in projects and the Christmas concert.
Staff said closing the school would be “a great loss” to residents and pupils, whose visits “lift the moods” of those at the home. Residents also wrote individual letters of support.
Pupils were also able to peruse pictures, trophies and books from the school’s history and former pupils – now at secondary school – also visited in a further show of support.
Lianne Hutchison has two children at the school – Caleb, seven and Greig, nine – and said it was a gem that must be protected at all costs.
“I feel very strongly that closure would be the wrong thing to do,” she said.
“There are small classes, the teachers know all the children and really care about them and there is a great sense of community. I fear that could be lost with a move to a bigger campus.
“When you come inside you can see what a beautiful building this is. It just needs a lick of paint.”
Catherine Cochrane, whose daughter is the fourth generation of her family to attend the school, said the quality of teaching is second to none.
“All the teachers here are fantastic and there is such continuity,” she said.
“My daughter is being taught by my old P7 teacher. He is still brilliant.
“It is a very caring school and a very diverse one too, with lots of nationalities represented.
“The kids love coming to school here and, having attended Balhousie myself, I would be quite upset if it were to close.”
The school’s capacity is 224 and there are just over 100 pupils there.
Three options have been put forward as part of the process.
The first would see Balhousie remain open with improved facilities and a new school created at North Muirton, while the second would see Balhousie close and pupils move to a larger new campus at North Muirton.
A third would see Balhousie remain open with improvements made and with other council services using space within the building, with the possible building a new North Muirton Primary School.