Gorebridge Community councillors came under fire from parents and councillors last week for not making clear their support for Stobhill Primary and the new schools programme.

Under Midlothian council proposals Stobhill and Gorebridge primary schools would have new buildings by 2006, with Temple and Borthwick pupils moving to Stobhill later this year.

At last Tuesday' community council meeting, local councillor Jim Dunsmuir said:" One of the things I was disappointed in was that there has never been anything said about the money we are spending in improving primary education in Midlothian.

"It's one of the things that should have been said by members of this community council"

"Shouldn't the praise come after the act?" asked community councillor John Ritchie. But he admitted what the council had done with St Andrew's was "fantastic".

A Stobhill parent said:" We are getting criticism and it's unjust. We feel you should be supporting us. We are having to fight that one wee corner ourselves."

Community councillor Archie Pacey said:" We can't emphasise enough that nobody on the community council has any interest in attacking Stobhill."

It was also pointed out both Mr Ritchie and Mr Pacey served on the Midlothian Federation of Community Councils and therefore had to support the schools under threat.

Local councillor Jim Muirhead said:"I would have hoped that we would have had something positive said about the new schools from Gorebridge Community Council."

Mr Ritchie said it would be "ludicrous" to be against the new schools, but added:"We shouldn't really be closing schools before we open new ones.

"It's going to put terrific pressure on Stobhill to have 60 new pupils with now new classrooms.

"We have to have alternative buildings land I think that was the point being made."

Community councillor Mary Webb said she was "chuffed" the village was earmarked for new schools and added:"The children of Gorebridge will be the winners in this. I think it's wonderful for Gorebridge."

Mr Muirhead confessed the new schools were not a certainty and added:"At the end of the day the whole thing could go down the tubes."

Councillor Dunsmuir said;"It doesn't matter if you are suggesting change of any kind you will always get somebody who will object to it."

He said:"There are a lot of people against it. Some people will be thinking it's a good thing – I don't know – but after the consultation process we are going to have to make a judgement and that's a fact of life."

Clearly the provision of a new school building and nursery class at Stobhill will provide excellent learning facilities and support the needs of the pupils, parents and the community.

To date, Friends of Stobhill have made every effort not to get involved in the bitter debate surrounding the closure of rural schools. However, the recent unwarranted criticism that has been levelled at the school can no longer be overlooked.

Whilst we appreciate that this is a difficult time for those that will be adversely affected by the council's proposals, surely the way forward is to concentrate on the positives – a Better Education For All.

The parents from Stobhill chose not to parade their children at the recent public meeting at Greenhall. Had they been in attendance they would have been able to offer many examples of high levels of achievement and excellent school facilities, similar to those heralded by the pupils from Borthwick and Temple Primary School.

Representative from Friends of Stobhill left the public meeting with major concerns surrounding the effect the reactions to the council's proposals are having on the pupils from all schools.

The inaccurate statements, in relation to the condition of the school and its surroundings, are filtering through to the pupils at Stobhill and are seriously affecting their morale. Question knows how this will affect the pupils transferring from Borthwick and temple Primary Schools, if the council's proposals go ahead.

Friends of Stobhill

Are the councillors aware that Borthwick School catchment area is almost doubling in size with the existing new housing and the proposed new housing developments at North Middleton and at Middleton Hall?

Ann Graham (Mrs)
Currie Inn Farm

I can understand that the councillors have been frustrated by the lack of response to the good intentions of the necessary upgrades to the urban schools and how that has been overridden by the issue of rural school closures.

No one in the rural area actually wants to prevent necessary improvements, but we do not believe that the rural schools should close as part of that proposal.

We have been given arguments that Borthwick School cannot provide 21st century education because of the poor state of the property and weak educational quality of rural schools. The revised council surveys show that the first is not the case and the evidence is clearly that rural schools outperform urban schools.

We have also been told that the closure of Borthwick would have no negative effects on the community. The attendance (800) at the march on Friday in Dalkeith should show that people do not believe this to be the case. It was not just parents at this march; from the Borthwick community three were school children, parents, grandparents, pre-school children, former pupils, former staff, church elders, senior citizens, Middleton Baby Group, the Women's Rural, the Women's Guild, Village Hall Committee, local farmers and other major employers in the area, all committed to coming on a weekday afternoon.

This clearly shows the breadth of support for the school's role in the community. I hope the councillors will recognise this.

Emma Wadee
Carnethy
Currie Inn farm

As the consultation period draws to a close, so does an episode in every local parent's lives. Never has such an important decision in our lives been so out of our control. Whatever our personal opinions may be, the comings and goings of recent weeks will not be forgotten. Action groups have been set up and all sorts of local organisations have been working together and sharing information in an attempt to streamline our efforts. While April 30 is an important day, these groups will continue to exist to ensure that people are fairly represented.

Many parents and members of the local community have had to literally put their lives on hold in order to fight to keep our rural schools open. During the past few weeks we've had to study local legislation and procedure regarding educational matters. We've learnt that Midlothian Council aims to "protect and enhance Midlothian's countryside and rural environments" and "protect and enhance the environment of Midlothian's towns and villages" as well as "identifying measures to regenerate rundown urban areas and revitalise rural communities" which, we can only hope, are guidelines that are firmly in place.

With regards to legislation, The Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended in 1981 and 2000, gives parents the right to send their children to the school of their choice, although it lays down some restrictions on this right. As well as many other acts, sections, sub-sections, clauses and amendments we've had to fid out exactly what provisions are in place to safeguard our children's future.

Also, Agenda 21 recognises the important role that all sectors of the community have in promoting sustainability. Agenda 21 emphasises the involvement of the poor, the young and the old, rural dwellers, people with disabilities and any other sector of the community at a disadvantage.

We are not politicians, and we've not all studied law, but we've done the best that we possibly can in this short time. The consultation period has been an education in itself and I'm sure we're not alone when saying that while we're fighting for the rural schools to remain open, it has not purely been a fight against the council, merely a fight to have our views acknowledged and have our opinions recognised by them.

Throughout this chapter, the council has stated that they will take on board our views and listen to our opinions. The future of our children's education depends on the decisions made by the councillors that we've voted for. We can only hope that those people in a position of power have listened to the views, opinions and concerns of the electorate and that we will be represented accordingly.

Mr and Mrs Church-Olney
Address supplied

Six month old triplets, the daughters of Harry and Caroline Dalmeny, led the Midlothian Rural schools Action Group rally through Dalkeith on Friday to raise public awareness over local authority plans to close five village primary schools.

The infants – Lavinia, Delphi and Celeste – whose buggy was carrying the action group's motto SOS (Save Our Schools) were joined by more than 600 placard and banner carrying pupils and parents.

Also with the triplets was their 18-month old sister, Marian – if the four join Temple Primary, as their parents hope, it would increase the school roll by 10 per cent.

The march set off from the entrance to Dalkeith Country Park and made its way through the town to present a 5,000 signature petition to Midlothian Provost Sam Campbell outside the local authority headquarters in Buccleuch Street.

To chants of "Save our school", boos and jeers, Provost Campbell accepted the petition from Temple Primary School Board chairman, Richard Lock. Some parents became angry, demanding the attendance of Councillor Peter Boyes, cabinet member responsible for education.

The petition is a copy of one which has been presented to the Scottish Parliament's petitions committee and was due to be considered by MSPs yesterday (Wednesday).

The procession, which was also led by two Borthwick Pipe Band pipers, finished in King's Park for a rally where Irene Stewart from Temple Primary, and Cousland Primary representative Kevin Holmes addressed the crowd.

Also piping in the parade was Kerr McGregor, a member of Moorfoot Community Council.

All along the route the protesters were given encouragement from motorists tooting their car horns and people lining the streets.

Temple parent Sandra Crow told the Advertiser:"Nobody likes to hear about schools closing, especially five schools that are in the only rural areas in Midlothian. I think people recognise we are wanting new schools to be built but not at the expense of ours."

Ms Crow added she was thrilled with the success of the march and rally. "I thought it was great. It was really well attended considering it was a Friday afternoon."

She also thanked the march organisers and police for their efforts.

Although the public consultation exercise finishes tomorrow (Friday), the action group hopes to continue dialogue with Midlothian Council and was due to meet with cabinet members earlier this week.