WIREDGOV

Green light for three new school building projects.

More than £20 million of Scottish Government funding has been announced by Angela Constance for new primary school building projects.

The Scottish Government is providing funding for the construction and refurbishment of schools in East Renfrewshire, Dundee and Argyll and Bute, accommodating more than 1,500 pupils as part of its £1.8 billion Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme.

The announcement was made as the Education Secretary visited Crookfur Primary School in East Renfrewshire which will be extensively refurbished and extended with the funding.

St Luke’s and St Matthew’s Primary School and St Vincent’s Primary School in Dundee will be replaced by a new joint primary school campus with Longhaugh Primary School.

In Argyll and Bute, Dunoon Primary School will be fully refurbished to retain its listed building status.

Ms Constance said:

“These latest exciting new school projects will provide fantastic, modern environments for thousands of young people to learn in and will be enjoyed by generations to come.

“Providing high quality learning is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s work and as part of this, we are committed to delivering well-designed, sustainable schools through our Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme.

“On top of the educational benefits, these new modern school buildings will also provide amenities for the wider community to enjoy and will boost the local economies, creating apprenticeship opportunities for young people and construction jobs across the country.

“I look forward to visiting all of these new schools when they are completed.”

Since launching Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme in 2009, all 32 local authorities have received dedicated funding to improve their school estate. More than 9,000 pupils per year are already benefitting from the 18 new schools already open, with a further 17 currently under construction. The programme is expected to deliver more than 100 new or refurbished schools by March 2020.

Gemma Boggs, schools programme director at Scottish Futures Trust, stated:

“Protecting local jobs. Creating better schools. Achieving value for money. These are just a few of the benefits being delivered through the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme that SFT manages.

“I too very much look forward to returning when the schools are open to see the real value of the programme with pupils being taught in modern, first-class facilities.”

East Renfrewshire Council Leader, councillor Jim Fletcher said:

“We welcome this funding support to improve the learning and teaching environment at Crookfur Primary School and Nursery Class. This investment will enable us to provide the children and staff with a new building that will look and feel like a whole new school. The parents and the wider community will also be able to benefit from the greatly revamped facilities.

“Crookfur is our school building that’s most in need of investment. The standard of education at Crookfur is of a high quality and it will be fitting for the children to have a building that matches the excellent work undertaken by them, with the support of their teachers and parents.

“This is another improvement in the educational estate in East Renfrewshire with our other major new projects including a new Family Centre at Busby/Clarkston, a new Barrhead High School, and a new Faith Schools’ Joint Campus.”

Notes To Editors

The first schools to benefit from £100 million of Scottish Government funding under the first component of phase four of Scotland’s Schools for the Future were announced in October 2014:http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/New-investment-in-school-buildings-1135.aspx

The further three schools to be built or refurbished under the first component of phase four of Scotland’s Schools for the Future are as follows:

• Dundee – replacement of St Vincent’s Primary School, Longhaugh Primary School and St Luke’s and St Matthew’s Primary School* with a joint campus to accommodate up to 800 pupils. 
• East Renfrewshire – refurbishment of Crookfur Primary School accommodating up to 420 pupils and 90 nursery places. 
• Argyll and Bute – refurbishment of Dunoon Primary School accommodating up to 300 pupils and 30 nursery places.

*This new school will be subject to statutory processes as set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.