PENICUIK High School assembly hall was packed on Monday evening when Midlothian Council held the first of five meetings to test the feelings of local people towards plans for the re-organisation of primary education in the county.

And it soon became clear that the overwhelming majority were not in favour of the Council's plans, many arguing that the proposals were either unnecessary or that they were being pushed through with too much haste.

In an introductory presentation, Education Director Donald McKay said that Midlothian Council had been able to do little more that cosmetic work on the fabric of its building since 1996.

Only a move by the Scottish Executive to allow the Council the necessary funding under a Public-Private Partnership deal had meant that the work now planned for the next four years could be carried out.

The aim, he said, was to provide in most cases two-stream primary schools with nursery provision and community facilities though that arrangement would not “fit all” and single-stream schools were envisaged also with nursery and community provision.

It was planned that the new schools being built under PPP would be complete by the end of 2006 with any building or extension that relied on developer contributions would be finished not more than two years later.

Opposition to the Council's plans began with the report that parents at Eastfield were “concerned” that their views had not been taken into account and that 61 per cent of those asked said they wished the school to remain as it was.

Three-quarters wanted any new combined school to be on the Eastfield site.

Later in the meeting, the Council was asked to explain why it was necessary to close Eastfield, which had just had a considerable amount of refurbishment work done, while nothing was planned for Mauricewood where parents were asking for work to be done.

Ladywood parents, the meeting heard, were equally against a merger of the two schools.

Some support for the Council's plans came from a spokeswoman for Cuiken Primary School, which is set to be refurbished under the proposals though even here there was criticism of the lack of information.

An argument over differing standards followed the statement put forward by representatives from Howgate with varying views over whether smaller schools resulted in higher standards of achievement.

The suggestion that the time allotted in the meeting was “wholly inadequate” for discussing the closure of Howgate school received a loud round of applause.

There was also a plea for a delay in the transfer of children from Howgate to Cuiken ahead of the planned refurbishment of that school.

Council Leader Adam Montgomery, who chaired the meeting, said that he thought that most comments had been constructive. The Council would be taking all public views into account before reaching a final decision.

I am writing to express my views about the school closures. I have lived and worked on farms in Midlothian for 25 years, the last 10 years at Castleton, near Temple, therefore the natural thing to do would be to send my children to the local school Temple, which my daughter has attended. It has a roll of 38 which is 86 per cent full.

Rhea has developed well in this small community. Our next hurdle was high school, a big step for Rhea. Lasswade High being our choice as her mum works in Bonnyrigg and little brother goes to a childminder in Bonnyrigg, but we are now told Temple is to close along with Borthwick. These small schools may not have top class PE facilities or state of the art computer suites but for 5-12 year old children they provide a great start to education as the results prove.

Surely as these buildings have been schools for 130-200 years they are part of our heritage and worth saving. I am in no way knocking Stobhill School as I was brought up in Gorebridge, went to Gorebridge Primary and Greenhall High School very happily. Can't the council learn from its mistakes?

One of their reasons for closure was children have to be transported, almost everyone walked to Greenhall before they closed it. So 69 new pupils will be transported to join 118 present pupils at Stobhill which the council reports say 'Roof, windows, brickwork and playground surfacing are poor,' then by 2006 a new school built and Stobhill will be demolished.

As we think this a terrible situation to put Rhea in for her last year of primary education our choice was to send her to Lasswade Primary, where her little brother will be going to nursery. The head teacher showed us round and all was settled she was to start Lasswade after the summer, but then we received a phone call from the school to advise us that applications should be made in writing as there are to be no intakes at present as all enrolments are frozen by Donald MacKay, so not only has our first choice been taken away but also our second.

Surely it is unfair on the children of both the town and country schools to cram them together in substandard buildings and portable buildings. So Midlothian Council, please think of the children, build the new schools first and give us the right to choose the school that suits our situation.

David Ramage
Castleton Cottage
Temple

As a parent of children at Borthwick Primary, one of the schools threatened with closure by Midlothian Council, I feel I must write to put the record straight on the matter of our school roll. At present we have 31 children in the school out of a capacity of 47; this is artificially low because admission to the school has been capped for 4 years. This has meant that no children from outwith the catchment area have had their placement requests granted.

The cap was put in place by Midlothian Council to ensure that children moving into the new housing in North Middleton would be able to secure a place at the school.

The expected number of children did not materialise but despite repeated requests Midlothian Council has refused to lift the cap. If this were done the school, which has always been very popular, would fill up quickly.

If a school has in excess of 80 per cent capacity, Midlothian Council would have to refer the decision on closure to the Scottish Education Minister, Peter Peacock. This route has been denied to us by Midlothian's refusal to lift the cap.

In addition, I thought that the consultation period that we are now in at the moment was to allow us the opportunity to persuade Midlothian Council of the merits of our arguments to keep open the schools. The headline today "Why these schools must close" appears to make this whole process redundant, as it is clear that the council has made up its mind.

Colette Pemberton
North Middleton
Gorebridge

The passion and committment of people in the rural communities fighting to save their schools will come as no surprise to Midlothian Council.

I am sure they expected emotions to run high and felt that blanket statements such as "our aim is to ensure the best possible education for our children and for future generations" and a catchy slogan "better buildings - better future" would eventually dampen the enthusiasm of those opposed to rural schools closing.

On Monday March 15 I stood in torrential rain, a child on each hip, placards in hand alongside mothers, children, grandparents, church representatives and caring members of the community. We huddled against the strong stone walls of Borthwick school, the rain blending the colours on the home made placards, causing them to resemble the rainbow that had just minutes earlier arched protectively over the crowd below.

Such protests highlight the strength of identity rural communities feel resonate from their schools. We, like Midlothian Council, want "the best possible education for our children" and felt until now extremely lucky to have "the best" in the form of our rural schools.

The financial upkeep of the historic buildings that house our children during school hours would appear to be a burden Midlothian would like to rid themselves of. Dismissing decades of successful schooling and leaving a community struggling to come to terms with a loss of identity and a very uncertain future.

In the Midlothian Schools Plus full colour brochure Midlothian state that closing the schools "will not give long term saving," which emphasises the short-term nature of their plans for rural communities.

All parents would like to hope for a better future for their children but few think that a new building will secure this.

Jacqueline Gibb
Carrington Barns
Gorebridge

Midlothian Council has been accused of double standards over its proposals to relocate Cousland pupils to Woodburn Primary.

For it has been claimed that pupils from the rural school will be housed in temporary accommodation at a time when the local authority has been praising itself on taking children out of such buildings.

In the latest edition of Midlothian news, the council explained that the new St Andrew's Primary, Gorebridge, replaces a building which was supplemented by temporary portable classrooms.

However, Cousland mother of two Mrs Lesley Lumsden of Hadfast Road, told the Advertiser: "When I read it I was absolutely livid. They say they are moving away from portable classrooms but they are going to put our children into them.

Mrs Lumsden believes that after transferring to Woodburn, the Cousland pupils will be housed in temporary units while a new school is constructed at the Dalkeith Campus and the primary school is renovated.

"Woodburn School is overstretched at the moment. It is requiring to be refurbished and put up portable cabins to house the children from Cousland, she added.

Mrs Lumsden continued that she has been "so sickened" with Midlothian Council's education proposals she intends to send her son Daniel (11) to private school when he leaves Cousland P7 at the summer. Her daughter Alexandra (7) is presently in P4.

Midlothian MSP Rhona Brankin has said she shares many of the concerns expressed by parents affected by the proposed school closures.

Ms Brankin met with education director Donald MacKay and councillor Peter Boyes, the cabinet member responsible for education and lifelong learning, to discuss the plans last week.

She said:"Parents have expressed concerns to me about the speed with which Midlothian Council is proposing to move.

"I have had a large number of communications from parents and local residents who are concerned about the proposals.

"Many people feel passionately about a school being at the centre of their rural community. Some parents have real concerns about their children being moved to inadequate buildings until new schools are built."

She added: "Decisions on school closures and improvements are obviously for Midlothian council to take, but any decision has to be taken in line with Westminster and Holyrood legislation including the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the Education (Scotland) Regulations 1981 and the Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000.

"Scottish Executive policy on rural communities also needs to be considered before any decisions are made.

"I have already met with representatives from all of the schools proposed for closure and I must say that I share many of their concerns.

"I met last week with Midlothian Council's director of education and the cabinet member responsible for education to discuss these proposals.

"I expect that dialogue to continue in coming weeks." She added.

Ms Brankin will attend the consultation meetings in Penicuik, Greenhall and Dalkeith.