Education and Children's Services Committee March round-up
You can read all the reports and watch back of the recording of this meeting by clicking here.
Cllr Keating began the meeting by congratulating Strichen School where five pupils were crowned UK National Champions in a robotics competition in February.
The school has since gone on to raise enough sponsorship through the community to get them to the World Championships in America in April.
You can read more about this story here.
Cllr Keating then spoke about a recent visit to Maud School for the launch of a new partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and the charity, Education and Employers’.
The collaboration aims to strengthen Aberdeenshire Council's long-term commitment to providing high quality career inspiration and pathways for young people across Aberdeenshire.
Cllr Keating said: “Schools across Aberdeenshire are working in partnership with local employers, community organisations and parents to make children aware and understand different jobs, workplaces and career pathways, which I think we can all agree is really important.”
You can read more about this story here.
Cllr Keating then wished senior students the best for their exams following the spring school holidays.
Education & Children's Services Financial Performance 2025-26
Education and Children’s Services is forecasting its revenue budget expenditure to be £3.5m over budget as of December 30. This is a reduction of £1.8m since last reported.
Director of Education Laurence Findlay told committee that the direction of travel had improved since earlier in the year, though significant demand-led pressures remain.
Discussion included building work, the progression of a new primary school at Chapelton, out of authority care, and new children’s homes.
Secondary School Capacity Review, Admission Limits and Reserved Places
Committee members were asked to approve the new capacities of secondary schools and the limits for the 26/27 school year.
Committee heard that the S1 limits were confirmed by head teachers and the S2 to S4 limits were reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate based on current staffing levels. Reserved spaces are based on the movement of in-zone families and expected housing.
Members also agreed to a review and update of the secondary school admission limit and reserved places policy.
2025/26 Based School Roll Forecasts
The school roll forecasts for primary and secondary schools are published each year. The report highlights those schools expected to exceed published capacity or operating significantly under capacity across each of the six council areas.
The 2025 pupil census shows there are 19,643 pupils in primary schools and 15,889 pupils in secondary schools. This is a reduction of 482 pupils attending primary school and a decrease of three pupils attending secondary school since September 2024.
By 2030 there are expected to be 16,944 primary aged pupils in Aberdeenshire, a decrease of around 2,700 pupils.
Consultation Report Regarding the Closure of Tullynessle School
Councillors considered the report and agreed to send the decision to the April 30 meeting of full council for the permanent closure of Tullynessle School and to reassign its catchment area to Keig School.
Banchory Devenick School
Committee agreed to launch a consultation on Banchory Devenick School’s proposed permanent closure.
Committee was told that significant issues with the school's heating system, along with wider condition concerns, have resulted in a position where substantial investment would be required to keep the building operational.
They also heard that officers had met with staff and parents in early March and then carried out one-to-one meetings with parents to focus on transition plans for their children.
All parents decided to enrol their children in different schools after the Easter holiday, with the majority moving to Lairhillock School. All staff are in the process of confirming their new places of work.
Slains School Update
Committee members heard an update on the options appraisal following the ceiling and roof collapse at Slains School in March 2025.
Members approved a statutory consultation on the permanent closure of the school. It is proposed that consultation will be launched during the summer term and the outcome of the consultation process would be reported back to the relevant committees in early 2027.
Carbon Budget – Six-Monthly Update
Following a lengthy discussion, members noted the report which highlights outcomes related to behavioural change and school-specific initiatives which continue to support the council’s emission targets.
Transport Transformation Update on Sandhaven to Fraserburgh Consultation
Committee chair Cllr Keating proposed a motion not to support the recommendations in the paper and ask that the discussion takes place through the relevant transportation member officer working group. This was seconded by Cllr Louise Mcallister and agreed.
Child Protection Committee Annual Report 2024-2025
The report explains how different organisations in Aberdeenshire work together to keep children and young people safe. It highlights what is going well, and where improvements are still needed.
Committee heard that a key focus has been on constantly improving how services work, looking closely at data to spot trends and risks.
The report also reviews progress on the 2023-2026 improvement plan, which aligns with wider local plans for children’s services.
A major part of the work is the Bairns’ Hoose project, which is developing a more child-centred, trauma-informed way of supporting children. This includes a “hub and spoke” model suited to the local area and aims to improve how services respond to children’s experiences.
Stage 1 Report on the Secure Care Audit
The report before committee relates to a recent internal audit of secure care use in Aberdeenshire. The level of net risk that was identified from the audit was major, with the assessment of the level of assurance being deemed to be limited.
Committee heard that Children's Services accepted all the recommendations that were made within the report and compiled an action plan to address all of the areas identified.
The audit identified concerns in areas such as payment controls, written procedures and training, procurement, and implementation and review.
Head of Children’s Services Andrew Dick said: “We take very seriously the areas that were identified as being of concern.
“Actions that we've identified for improvement include strengthening invoice check-in processes, utilisation of digital tools to create a new flow system which will further enhance checks being made prior to payments being processed, a review of guidance for practitioners and managers, and also ensuring that prepayments are not made for services in line with recommendation.
“This audit has afforded us the opportunity to understand the areas of vulnerability in terms of our processes and to strengthen these where necessary.
“The actions that we have identified have either been completed or we have clear time scales for completion with work actively being progressed to achieve this.”
Committee agreed that the Stage 1 Scrutiny Report and recommendations provided the Committee with sufficient assurance on the matter.
Officers were asked to include within the Corporate Parenting Annual Report an update on issues identified through the audit and confirmation of how these continue to be monitored, in order to provide assurance to members without producing a separate report.
Officers were also asked to provide members with assurance that all future-dated actions have been delivered as agreed, with progress to be tracked and reported through a statement of outstanding business.