Councils welcome £330m Schools for the Future funding announcement
Plans for an innovative, ground-breaking replacement building for Waid Academy in Anstruther have been unveiled following the £330 million Scottish Government investment into expanded Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme.
The Waid will be one of six secondary schools and two primaries which make up Fife Council’s Building Fife’s Future Programme.
Fife Council leader Cllr. David Ross, said: “We have very ambitious plans for The Waid, to create not just a school but a whole community hub which is both innovative and inspirational in design and which will serve all the communities of the East Neuk. Today’s announcement that SFT will part fund the project will help us realise those ambitions much sooner and I am delighted we can now move forward with this exciting project.”
The Waid will be a ground-breaking, collaborative project, which will bring a huge range of public services under one roof. This will be a first, not just for the communities of Anstruther and the East Neuk, but it will be the first of its kind in Fife and can deliver a blueprint for a new way of working for all Fife’s community partners.
Perth & Kinross Council has welcomed the announcement from the Scottish Government of funding of £14.5 million to facilitate replacement primary schools for both Tulloch and Kinross.
The funding will be added to the £8.5m previously identified from the council’s Capital Programme and will allow the local authority to replace both schools on their existing sites.
The council has been in discussion with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Future Trust for a considerable amount of time regarding possible investment which would lead to replacement schools being developed in these two communities. With the funding available, work on the new schools will begin as quickly as possible. It is anticipated that both new schools will be operational for the 2017/18 school session.
Councillor Bob Band, convener of the council’s lifelong learning committee, said: “We have been aware for some time that Kinross and Tulloch Primary Schools are coming to the end of their usable life, and have been actively developing options to allow us to continue to deliver high quality education with minimal disruption to our communities. When the latest round of funding from the Scottish Government was made known, we were able to submit a strong case clearly setting out the requirements for replacing both schools for the benefit of over 800 pupils who will now receive their education in a modern facility. This funding will allow us to move forward with our preferred option for replacing both schools and I am delighted that neither of the communities will be losing out.
“I would like to thank the Parent Council’s from both Tulloch and Kinross for their patience while we pursued a range of funding opportunities. I hope today’s announcement will satisfy everyone and that we can all continue to work together to develop two new schools that will serve these two communities for many years to come.”
Children and communities across East Ayrshire will also benefit from the announcement by the Scottish Government to provide funding towards the replacement of six schools in the area.
The schools involved are: St Sophia’s Primary School, Galston; Bellsbank Primary School, Dalmellington; Muirkirk Primary School and three schools in Cumnock – Greenmill Primary School; Barshare Primary School and Hillside School. The three schools in Cumnock will be located on a single campus, all subject to any necessary statutory consultation.