Parents fight back against proposed boundary changes to West Lothian school
Campaigners say proposed move will cause disruption for children
Parents have launched a campaign against council proposals to redraw the catchment area of one of Scotland’s high performing state schools.
West Lothian Council is consulting on plans to move Bridgend Primary School from Linlithgow Academy to Winchburgh Academy.
The local authority claims the move is being made at the request of families - but campaigners say it will cause unjustifiable disruption to their children.
Families in areas including Bridgend, Philpstoun and Threemiletown would be affected.
Richard Nicol, a father-of-three, is involved in the campaign to stop the catchment changes.
His two sons attend Low Port Primary with the eldest due to start secondary school in August 2028 and his daughter is at nursery but due to start Low Port in 2028.
Mr Nicol and his wife fear the situation would leave them reliant on placing requests, which would rule the boys out of council transport arrangements, and leave them with the uncertainty of not knowing if they will progress on to secondary with their friends.
He said: “We appreciate there are differing perspectives on this.
“But whichever way it goes, we would hope the council would give assurances that our children will receive a continuation in their social groups with the friends they have.
“We don’t have any ties to Winchburgh yet they are involved in multiple sport and academic groups tied to Linlithgow so it would be really quite a severe change for them.”
Parents also said they are keen their children attend the more established Linlithgow Academy, rather than four-year-old Winchburgh Academy.
They are also concerned about the effect on their property prices, citing Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research that shows a variation in house prices in certain catchments linked to high achieving schools.
Parents claim West Lothian Council has failed to take account of housing demand, affordability, property values or the future socioeconomic composition of Bridgend, Philpstoun, Threemiletown and surrounding areas.
“We would hope that Winchburgh attains a good status and have every reason to believe that it will,” Mr Nicol added.
“Until it does so, there is still going to be house price disparity across the catchment boundary.”
Families also criticised the council for lack of an explicit timeline, saying they cannot plan ahead as they do not know when or if they will be affected.
A West Lothian Council spokesman said the move was designed to ensure catchment boundaries “fit better with local ties” and “ensure better alignment with community council and natural geographic boundaries”.
He said: “A number of parents and carers in the Threemiletown and Bridgend area have expressed a community desire to include the area within the Winchburgh Academy catchment.
“The proposal aligns secondary catchments with the successful education links between Bridgend Primary School and Winchburgh Primary School including the joint headship and activities across the two school communities.”
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The spokesman added that no decision has yet been made and parents can apply for a place at a non-catchment school, which will be considered in line with our Placing in Schools guidelines.
“To reiterate, while no decision has been made, should the proposal be approved following the conclusion of the consultation, all pupils will continue to attend their existing schools for the remainder of their secondary stage education, if that is their wish.
“This means that those already in attendance at Linlithgow Academy would not move if that was their choice, and we always support a sibling commitment for those currently in attendance.”
Winchburgh Academy, part of a £60m education and sports campus, is a mile closer than the Linlithgow high school.
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