Boroughmuir School gets the best Christmas present – new buildings!

Boroughmuir High School and Campbeltown Grammar School are the latest schools to be identified to receive support through the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme.

This brings the total number of school projects to 37, benefitting almost 20,000 pupils.

Announcing the move, Education Secretary Michael Russell said:-“The buildings currently housing Boroughmuir and Campbeltown secondary schools are the last two classed as ‘suitability D’ in the country.

“By replacing these outdated facilities we will ensure that another 1,500 pupils will benefit from state of the art learning environments.

“Figures published earlier this year showed that the Scottish Government had far exceeded its target to build 250 schools in this parliamentary term and that 82 per cent of Scottish school children are now being taught in good quality buildings.

“The Government and the Scottish Futures Trust will now work with Edinburgh and Argyll & Bute councils to explore the best options for improving both schools.”

City Education Leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren said:-“I’m thrilled that this major investment has been confirmed – it’s a lovely Christmas present for Boroughmuir.  We’ve been trying for so many years to secure the development of the school which is in a dilapidated state.

“We have a major ongoing programme of new school building and improvement work across the city and this is a fantastic addition.

“I’ve asked officers to explore all possible options for the school and I look forward to being able to make an announcement about the next steps soon.”

The two school building projects will be supported via the new pipeline of Non-Profit Distributing investment, which will be delivered in partnership with the Scottish Futures Trust. Further primary and secondary school projects will be announced in the new year.

The 2010 School Estate statistics (link) showed that there were 6 secondary schools rated Condition C (poor) and Suitability D (bad) remaining in Scotland. Of those six, Councils indicated investment plans to improve 4 of them, leaving Boroughmuir and Campbeltown as the worst two secondary school buildings in Scotland. There is one Condition D secondary school listed in the statistics – Lasswade High School, which is being replaced as part of Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme.

35 school building projects from Scotland’s Schools for the Future have already been announced.

The Government will work with both Councils to determine the level of funding support for the projects, which will be based on the same criteria as has been used in the first fourteen secondary school projects.