Hundreds of primary school children started their first day back to school today in brand new classrooms.
The City of Edinburgh Council, together with Hub South East Scotland Ltd and Morrison Construction, have provided 24 new class spaces just in time for the new term.
Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “In total the Council has allocated nearly £20m to tackle the issue of rising rolls and provide new, high quality classrooms for our pupils.”
Primary schools which have benefited from the investment are James Gillespie’s, Clermiston, Flora Stevenson, Gilmerton, Pentland, Ratho and Wardie.
In addition, South Morningside Primary School also has a temporary annexe which has been created for P1 and P2 pupils at the former Deanbank Resource Centre and extra internal space has been provided at both Brunstfield and Liberton Primary Schools.
The councillor said: “The rapid rise in the school population is a problem facing local authorities across the UK. It is a real challenge for us here in Edinburgh, but it’s a challenge that we are meeting.
“It is a further demonstration that whether it is delivering entirely new buildings, extending existing buildings or reconfiguring space, the Capital Coalition is committed to providing the very best educational environment for our pupils.”
Since 2013 the Council has provided 70 new class spaces to accommodate the city’s increasing primary school population helping to ensure that catchment pupils can get a place at their catchment school.
At the start of the 2014/15 school year there were 28,010 primary school pupils but latest estimates show this is anticipated to rise to 31,700 by 2020.
Richard Park, Operations Director, Hub South East Scotland Ltd, said: “I am proud to be marking the third successful year working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council to tackle the issue of rising school rolls.”
The City of Edinburgh Council have also identified another eight primary schools that potentially could have accommodation issues by August 2016 due to rising school rolls – Balgreen, East Craigs, Ferryhill, Fox Covert, Granton, Roseburn, St Mary’s RC (Leith) and Towerbank.
However, discussions are already in place on plans to rectify any future issues.
