The Commission on Rural Education is grateful for all the responses it has received to its Call for Evidence. The letter alerting interested parties to the Call for Evidence and the full list of questions is available here and there is an online response form which will be available until midnight on Thursday, 12 January 2012. If you want to contact the Commission following the deadline, please email commissiononruraleducation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
The Call for Evidence was intended to gather information to allow the Commission an opportunity to balance the interests of children, parents and communities and the overarching responsibilities of local government and Ministers.
The responses to the Call for Evidence will be analysed following the deadline and will form an important part of the Commission's considerations and inform its final recommendations.
Steps to completing the Call for Evidence questionnaire
1. Please consider the questions set out in the attached document. These are not intended to be an exhaustive list of the issues and you are encouraged to provide comments on any other issue you feel may be relevant at the final question.
2. It would help us greatly if you could respond using the online response form. This should be a quick and easy way to provide responses and comments on our questions, and will allow your responses to be analysed easily and efficiently.
3. However, please note that the online form must be completed in one session; does not offer a 'Back' button, and there is a maximum answer length for each question of 4000 characters - about one A4 page of text. You can cut and paste text on to it.
4. If the online form is unsuitable for you, or you cannot access it, an alternative Word version of the form is available. Please email commissiononruraleducation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk to request a copy.
5. Or you may wish to write to us, in which case we would be grateful if you could indicate clearly which section or question you are referring to.
Please ensure that we receive your response by 12 January 2012, when the Call for Evidence will close.
Further information
In considering the Call for Evidence you may find it helpful to have further information on the following topics:
Schools Consultation Act, including links to the Act itself and statutory guidance, visit: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/Buildings/changestoschoolestate
The Urban Rural Classification: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About/Methodology/UrbanRuralClassification
Curriculum for Excellence: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/ACE
Getting it right for every child: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright/background