Councillors have agreed to carry out a consultation to consider a Proposal to rezone the catchment area for Dalmally Primary School. The Proposal looks to extend the zone to include the whole catchment area of the former Bridge of Orchy Primary School.
How to respond
The consultation opens on Monday 26 August and closes on 4 October 2024. The council will hold a public meeting on 17 September, 6pm at Dalmally Primary School. Full details of the Proposal including details on how to respond are available on the council website.
If agreed, the new catchment area will take effect from 6 March 2025.
Background information
Bridge of Orchy Primary School closed in 2004. At that point, and since the closure, families residing within the former Bridge of Orchy Primary School catchment area have had the option to choose either Dalmally Primary School or Crianlarich Primary School. Crianlarich Primary School is within the local authority area of Stirling Council. Argyll and Bute Council agreed the current arrangement with Stirling Council in 2004.
Argyll and Bute Council’s Education Service has recently reviewed the current arrangements and have identified a number of potential issues. It is rare for local authorities to place children outside of their own council area. Argyll and Bute Council has included the long-term educational benefits and community impact should the re-zoning take place.
Councillor Audrey Forrest, the Council’s Policy Lead for Education, shared, “We are committed to providing the best education for our children and young people.
This consultation is a crucial step in planning for the future to ensure that all our learners can achieve positive outcomes. We’re eager to hear from everyone, parents, children, staff and community members about their views on this Proposal.”
What happens next?
All consultation feedback received will be carefully considered, and Elected Members will decide whether the Proposal should be implemented. If implemented, the Proposal would mean that any new primary school pupils who live in the former Bridge of Orchy Primary School catchment area would automatically attend Dalmally Primary School, as their catchment area school.
Primary aged children who currently live in the former Bridge of Orchy Primary School catchment area and already attend Crianlarich Primary School will be able to continue to do so up to Primary 7, should they choose to.
This will not affect a parent’s statutory right to make a placing request for their child to attend a school that is not their catchment school.
Hard copies of the Proposal are available from
- Council Headquarters, Kilmory, Lochgilphead, Argyll, PA31 8RT
- Council Headquarters – Kilmory, Lochgilphead, Argyll, PA31 8RT
- Dalmally Primary School, - Dalmally, Argyll, PA33 1BE
- Crianlarich Primary School – Main Street, Crianlarich, FK20 8QN
It is also available electronically on the council website.