Strachan School
Mothballed before closure consultation.
Council decision: 29 April 2021. Ministers approved: 23 June 2021.
The wider school-closure picture · 21 October 2026
Temporary closure.
Permanent consequences.
Banchory-Devenick School is part of a wider story. Across Aberdeenshire, temporary closures have repeatedly been followed by permanent-closure proposals. Communities deserve to see the sequence—and to challenge the assumptions behind it.
01 / Our assessment of the public record
“Temporary” must come
with a real route back.
01Pupils move out
02Temporary closure continues
03Permanent closure is proposed
04The community must fight to retain provision
That sequence is visible in several of the cases below. Our concern is the cumulative effect: once families have moved, resources have gone elsewhere and the building is unused, reopening can become harder to secure.
This is the campaign’s interpretation of documented events. The reasons and outcomes differ: low rolls, contamination, building failure and mergers are not interchangeable. The record does not establish that every closure was unlawful or that every consultation was predetermined.
But it does justify a hard question: what is Aberdeenshire Council doing during temporary closure to keep reopening achievable?
Current Scottish guidance: temporary closure, paragraphs 63–78 ↗
02 / Eleven other school cases
Follow the sequence.
Check the outcome.
Record checked on 21 October 2026. This covers the recent mothballing and closure cases identified in the council’s current and archived consultations and supporting official records, chiefly 2021–2026. It is not an all-time census. Dates distinguish council decisions from ministerial or panel outcomes.
Longhaven School
The council records temporary mothballing from October 2018, with annual extensions.
Council decision: 30 June 2022. Ministerial approval: 18 August 2022.
Gartly School
Pupils moved after an oil leak in December 2018; contamination remained unresolved despite remediation efforts.
Council decision: 24 November 2022. Ministerial approval: 18 January 2023.
Fisherford School
Mothballing decided in May 2021; the council reported no new enrolment requests since August 2021.
Council decision: 26 September 2024. Ministerial approval: 20 November 2024.
Easterfield School
Mothballing decided in May 2021; the council reported no new enrolment requests since August 2021.
Council decision: 26 September 2024. Ministerial approval: 20 November 2024.
Clatt School
Mothballed from August 2022; statutory consultation ran in autumn 2024.
Council closure decision: 24 April 2025. Ministers upheld it on 19 June 2025; catchment transferred to Rhynie School.
Tullynessle School
Mothballing was decided in 2024; the council voted for permanent closure on 30 April 2026.
Ministers called it in on 24 June. On 12 October the panel refused consent and remitted for a fresh decision. This is not an order to reopen.
Kinneff School
Mothballed from August 2024 because of a low expected roll. The council reports no enrolment, placing-request or attendance interest in January–May 2025.
Council voted to close on 24 September 2026 and merge the catchment with Catterline School. The published ministerial representation deadline was 14 October; this archive has not verified a later ministerial outcome.
Fintry School
Mothballed from August 2025. The council reports supportive parent and pupil views about the merger with King Edward School.
On 24 September 2026 the council selected King Edward School as the single site, closing Fintry School. The published representation deadline was 14 October; no subsequent ministerial outcome is verified here.
Logie Coldstone School
The council’s 2025-based forecast table lists the school as mothballed.
No final closure decision has been established from the sources reviewed for this page. A forecast table is a dated record, not proof of today’s position.
Slains School
Temporarily closed following a ceiling collapse in March 2025; the council records that the building has since been demolished.
Closure consultation ran 18 May–3 July 2026. The published process still describes further committee consideration before a final decision. Demolition and the future of local education are distinct questions.
Banchory-Devenick School’s own case is detailed on Our fight so far. Unverified later outcomes are labelled instead of inferred from an old proposal or expired deadline.
03 / An actual finding against the council
Tullynessle: the panel
required a fresh decision.
The panel found a failure of substance. It concluded that the nursery provision was a material consideration which the council had failed to account for properly. On 12 October 2026 it refused consent and remitted the proposal for a fresh decision.
The panel accepted that primary and nursery provision could be treated as distinct stages. Its finding was that this did not make the nursery’s implications irrelevant. The remit is not an outright permanent bar to closure.
Our conclusion: communities are right to test the council’s assurances. Independent scrutiny has already required this council to think again.
The lesson for Banchory-Devenick School is to identify our own material evidence and failures precisely. A finding in another school’s case is not an automatic finding in ours.
04 / Pressure has changed decisions
Four nursery settings.
A reversal and an apology.
On 9 June 2025, Full Council withdrew planned mothballing/deactivation at Ballogie, Crossroads, Glass and Sandhaven. It revisited the budget, used reserves while alternative savings were sought and requested changes to its guidance. The council leader apologised for the anxiety and stress caused.
The council also stated its financial and estate pressures. The reversal shows that a proposed cut can be reconsidered; it does not settle the merits of every other case.
Council’s account of the decision and apology ↗
Our challenge: why should communities have to organise a rescue before the process is reconsidered?
05 / The wider estate changes
Mergers and new buildings
also belong in the record.
These programmes provide context. Their replacement provision means they should not be treated as identical to the loss of a rural school.
06 / Scrutiny includes the public information
Challenge rights need
accurate instructions.
When checked on 21 October 2026, the Slains section of the council’s education-consultations page described an eight-week period for the public to ask Ministers to review a closure. Scottish Government guidance gives the public three weeks from the decision date; eight weeks is the overall ministerial consideration period.
Residents should not risk missing a deadline because two official explanations differ. We call on Aberdeenshire Council to make its public guidance accurate and unambiguous. Anyone facing a decision should check the formal notice and the Scottish Government guidance immediately.
07 / What we demand
Keep reopening real.
Make every decision answerable.
Publish the route back.
Reopening criteria, maintenance arrangements, demand assessments and regular reviews should be visible to the people affected.
Show the whole comparison.
Essential repairs, phased investment, travel, community effects and reasonable alternatives need a fair, evidenced comparison.
Learn from overturned decisions.
Explain what has changed after Tullynessle and the nursery reversal. Communities should not have to uncover the same weaknesses again.
Current Scottish guidance calls for annual review, monitoring of demand, clear reopening criteria and maintenance that preserves the possibility of reopening. It cautions against temporary arrangements undermining statutory consultation.
Current guidance, paragraphs 63–78 ↗
School records and campaign interpretation are distinguished throughout. Have a correction, a more recent decision or another documented case? Contact the campaign with the school, date and source.
A community that stays involved
Our school is not
an administrative loose end.
Turn concern into organised support. Read the records, ask the difficult questions and help keep the future of local education in public view.