Rogart Primary School is nestled at the heart of our rural crofting community, and provides a vibrant, joyful, and nurturing teaching and learning environment for our children, facilitating engagement with our beautiful surroundings and using outdoor learning experiences to foster deep connection with our Highland landscape. Rogart Primary is an outstanding and incredibly loved school. 

For the forthcoming academic year, we face a huge challenge: due to a temporary dip in student numbers for the academic year 2025-2026, Rogart Primary School faces the prospect of losing half of one of the two full time teacher's contracted hours. Highland Council’s Workforce Planning protocols stipulate that a minimum of 20 pupils is required for both teachers to be retained full time. The current roll for 2025-2026 is 19 pupils.  The forecast for 2026-2027 and beyond is that this drop in pupil numbers is a mere fluctuation for one academic year - should things remain unchanged, the roll will return to at least 21 pupils from next August and beyond, meaning that the hours will once again require to return to two full time teachers.

The teachers are the cornerstone of the successes and of creating and sustaining the positive and supportive ethos of our school.  The reduction of teaching hours for one academic year (and for the sake of being one pupil short of the benchmark) is counterintuitive and risks destabilisation of the school.  Should the reduction take place, one teacher will be solely responsible for the management and attainment of 19 x P1-P7 pupils for half of the working week, threatening not only the maintenance of the present highly nurturing and supportive learning environment, but also the school's potential to attract and retain new families within the affected academic year. Enrolment capacity is directly linked to teaching capacity, and at 1.5 teachers, additional enrolment throughout the year will not be able to be facilitated. This will stymie the flourishing and continued growth of the school and undoubtedly have a far reaching impact that is of detriment to our community.

We are hopeful and are campaigning for the retention of both of our teachers at full-time through the process of additionality. Acknowledging that the fluctuations in roll are transient, this would permit the retention of the current teaching hours (2 x full time teachers), and support our school, a core insitution of our community, in a time where we are striving to thrive and grow in the face of regionally acknowledged depopulation challenges.  We consider it vital that institutions in our small and fragile rural communities are supported to underpin this growth.

We urge Highland Council to recognise the critical role that Rogart Primary School plays in our community and to retain both teaching positions on a full-time basis. The future of our school and it's contribution to the continued success and vibrancy of our community depend on it. Please sign this petition to add your voice in support of retaining the teaching hours at Rogart Primary School.