Logie Primary is one of nine schools undergoing a review process after their rolls dropped below a 60% Moray Council occupancy trigger.

And top of Logie's Christmas wish list is for education chiefs and councillors to safeguard its future.

The deadline for campaigners to make submissions to that review process passed on Wednesday, and Logie came up with a novel way of making their views clear.

Parent Stephen Crockett donned the Santa suit to present Councillor Jeff Hamilton, education vice-chairman, with a detailed dossier on why Logie should not be closed.

The other schools under review are Cabrach, Crossroads, East End, Inveravon, Knockando, Portknockie, St Peter's and Tomintoul.

Councillor Hamilton insisted closure of any school was viewed as a last resort by the council.

Mr Crockett, who has one son at Logie and another two now at secondary school, claimed the primary is the hub of the community.

"There has been a lot of work done by the school board and PTA. We have got to be pro-active because nobody else is going to stand up for us if we don't.

"We depend on the school to give the community a focus and if we lose that we will lose the heart of the community," he added.

Mr Crockett said the community had taken a positive stance in trying to prove that Logie has a viable future.

The paper contained more than 70 letters from parents, school board, PTA, parents of former pupils, former pupils themselves and other members of the community.

Julia Boger, chair of the parent teacher association, praised the way inhabitants have rallied behind the school.

"It has pulled together fantastically and there has been a lot of support putting this together," she said.

"We definitely have a viable school. It does an excellent job in educating the children, but it also does so much for the community. Just a couple of weeks ago we had a family ceilidh and everybody was there, young and old."

All we want for Christmas is our school's future to be safeguarded, say Santa Claus and parents at Logie Primary School as they present a dossier to Councillor Jeff Hamilton, vice-chairman of education. NS

Mrs Boger, who has a child in P3 and two sons at secondary school, said the report contained a lot of positive ideas about how spare capacity, as determined by education officials, could be utilised. They include a lunch club for senior citizens, a chess club, toddler group and exercise classes.

The council decreed that the school has space for up to 75 children but currently has only 42, giving it a 52% occupancy figure.

However, the school board challenged the process with which the council arrived at this figure and has threatened legal action should a decision be taken to close the school.

Mrs Boger said: "The saddest thing about this is that we have more than 40 children worried about their school and being split up from their friends."

George Sinclair, head of educational development services for Moray, said the review process was about involving communities and finding ways to address capacity issues.

"This is the kind of information we want as part of this process and to involve the schools and the wider community," he added.

Councillor Hamilton insisted there was no hidden list of schools earmarked for closure and it would only be considered as a last resort.

It is likely that a report on the first stage review process will go before councillors in April, when they may decide to put a number of schools forward for a second stage review, when closure does become one of the options.

"As far as I am concerned we will do everything we can to avoid going down the line of closures," said Councillor Hamilton.

"The ideal scenario would be for every school to find something to put in them to save them but we can't rule out closure."

Referring to the Logie dossier, he said: "I am hoping there will be some positive suggestions in there about what we can do to help keep Logie open. It is an important small rural school."

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead urged all councillors to visit every school currently under review. He reiterated the view that the 60% threshold is "artificial and lacks official status or validity".

"I welcome the current exercise in so far as it will, hopefully, identify new uses for the school estate to increase viability and cement the role of our rural primary schools within the wider community. Ultimately, it is the future education of our children and the future of our rural communities that matters, and it is this criteria against which our rural primary schools must always be judged," he added.

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