The new Portobello High School
Thresholds an exhibition of work by Toby Paterson
St John’s Road supermarket
Vivaldi Gloria
Royal Blind Celebrity Golf Day
We were given a tour of the new Portobello High School yesterday which is progressing towards the anticipated opening date in August 2016. The new school includes a swimming pool and outdoor pitches which will all be available to local residents. The swimming pool is situated right next to the main reception area, making it as accessible as it can be to locals. The area next to the swimming pool will be used for a fitness suite and we spotted a workman there laying the underfloor heating!
The Edinburgh Reporter NEWS from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
Building of the new Portobello High School on Milton Road is now well underway and we were invited along to see the progress for ourselves
The school is being built on three storeys some of which are much lower than the level of Milton Road so that it is not all visible by house owners across the main thoroughfare. It includes a lot of glass, an art terrace and an outside terrace off the library, and outdoor areas between the buildings which can be used by the pupils during break time. The school building with its playground and car park will take up 2.6 hectares and the two pitches will use 1.6 hectares on the north side of Milton Road.
We spoke to Stuart Danskin of Balfour Beatty the company in charge of the building. Stuart is the Project Manager and said that the day he most looks forward to is when the children get to use the school. He said he was very proud of the new James Gillespie’s High School and very much enjoyed the look on the children’s faces when they came through the doors.
The pupils at the existing Portobello High School have been very much involved in the design of their new premises in Portobello Park, down to the open plan spaces which will be useful for collaborative learning across several age groups. Billy McIntyre the Head of Resources Children and Families explained that these spaces at James Gillespies have been so popular that 150 pupils came into the school during the holidays to study there.
The school will have capacity for 1400 pupils but there may be a little spare room as the High School last year only had a roll of 1298 pupils.
There are around 140 members of staff employed at the school at present.
When the new school is up and running the old school in Portobello will be demolished to make way for a new primary school with the remainder of the site being turned into a park. Consultation on the new park is expected to begin shortly.
***
An exhibition opens today at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop from 6-8pm with an introduction to the exhibition from the Artist & the Curator between 6-6.30pm
Open Monday – Saturday, 11am to 5pm each day
Event Toby Paterson & Judith Winter in conversation Saturday 8 August 3-4pm
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in partnership with Maggie’s Centres is proud to present Thresholds an exhibition of new work by Toby Paterson curated by Judith Winter.
This exhibition brings together, the series of works that Toby Paterson has made specifically for the seven Maggie’s Centres across Scotland. These works are presented alongside memory drawings and models giving the audience an insight into the inspiration, contexts and the process of creation and production involved in their development.
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is at 21 Hawthornvale, EH6 4JT. T 0131 551 4490. Very accessible by bike using the cycle path network!
***
Elsewhere Friends of the Earth have alerted us that the application to demolish the building which used to be Woolworths on St John’s Road is proceeding even if Waitrose have pulled out. The plans are to replace what is there at 181 – 195 St John’s Road with a supermarket and car park.
Their main objection to the development is that this road is already congested and the supermarket plans include the 140 vehicle car park.
The site also lies 200 metres away from Corstorphine Primary School.
The planning application has been made under reference 15/02898/FUL. There are already 67 comments on the planning portal and Friends of the Earth would like you to add your voice.
Consultations on proposals by Irish company Realis Estates Ltd have recently concluded and the papers which are online include reports from the Economic Development Department (local councillor Frank Ross is the Economy Convener). The council report states that the new development could provide additional convenience in one of the city’s Town Centres and might attract even more investment. The new supermarket might result in 113 new full-time jobs.
***
On Monday 3 August at 6.00pm at St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh
National Youth Choir of Scotland at the Fringe 2015 MacMillan Cantos Sagrados / Vivaldi Gloria
Juxtaposing poetry of political repression against traditional religious texts, MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados protests against the ‘disappearances’ of the politically inconvenient. The striking dissonance propels us unceremoniously into the violence of Latin America. The National Youth Choir of Scotland makes a return to the Fringe with this savage yet beautiful piece after last year’s acclaimed performance, prompting MacMillan himself to say “I have rarely been so impressed by a performance of this work.”
Also featuring Vivaldi’s celebrated choral masterpiece, Gloria. Opening with a joyous chorus, this triumphant and impassioned work is filled with an array of rich contrasts that will thrill and move.
Tickets: £10 (adult), £8 (concession), £5 (student/child)
Box Office: https://tickets.edfringe.com or call 0131 226 0026
***
A few places are still left for the Royal Blind Celebrity Golf Day on 13 August.
More information on this fundraising event here.
Sign up here for a daily email from The Edinburgh Reporter !
[mc4wp_form]
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
