The new James Gillespie’s High School was officially opened at a special ceremony by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills John Swinney yesterday morning.
He was joined by Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, Head Teacher Donald J Macdonald and Paul McGirk, Chief Executive of Hub South East Scotland, the Council’s development partner.
The morning’s events were run by the pupils who led the VIP tour around their new school. This is a lovely mix of old buildings with new, open spaces for play and leisure, and a mix of ages with pupils from nursery to school-leaving age on one campus. The forum at the centre of the High School is used for large group meetings and assemblies and the entire school is completely up to date with projectors and whiteboards.
The atmosphere is one of light and enthusiasm, and clearly the pupils who showed us round are very much enjoying their improved surroundings.
In the Muriel Spark building the assembled audience was treated to some theatre (we particularly liked the short piece about the boy who was lazy and never did his homework – proves that there is usually more to it than meets the eye!) in a bespoke performance area with beautiful lighting and sound. The pupils who had just won Gold medals at the Mod last week were in evidence playing harp and signing in Gaelic.
Special guest of honour was Sue Caton, niece of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, with the new sports building being named after the famous Scottish sporting hero. The new performance block has been named the Spark Building after novelist and former pupil, Muriel Spark.
The high school rebuild was part of the £42.8m James Gillespie’s Campus Project, one of the most unique in Scotland, which began in 2012, and a part of the council’s Wave 3 school building programme which totals £120 million.
This was Councillor Paul Godzik’s last day in the job as Education Convener. Although he is standing down as convener he will continue as a city councillor until the elections in May. His replacement will be announced today at the council meeting.
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