Education bosses have set out plans to get pupils back to Woodmill High by August 2020 – a year after the fire which devastated the Dunfermline school.
Fife Council intends to begin a phased return to the original Woodmill site in January next year.
Children and staff, who have been dispersed to the Vine Centre in Dunfermline, Fife College, St Columba’s High, Queen Anne High, Inverkeithing High and Beath High since the blaze, will be brought back in stages, beginning with pupils in S3-5..
Shelagh McLean, head of education and children’s services, said officials were “absolutely committed” to bringing all Woodmill pupils back together by August 2020 at the latest and were doing everything they can to make it happen earlier if possible.
Three temporary classroom units will be installed on the Woodmill High site to allow the initial phase to start in January.
These will be removed as semi-permanent buildings are constructed.
Ms McLean said officials were confident that several Woodmill year groups will be able to return to their own school buildings after the Christmas holidays.
“Installing several temporary modular units, to complement the part of the school building that is being salvaged, will give us capacity to bring S3, S4 and S5 back to Woodmill High’s own site,” she said.
“This will mean S4 and S5 pupils can sit their prelims in January in their own school hall, and it will give them additional access to specialist facilities as they finish their certificated courses.
“We understand that this is still frustrating for many parents and pupils but building a larger modular village, that’s suitable to accommodate a whole school, is a much more complex process.
“Plans are already underway for this and we’ll keep people updated as we go.”
She said other pupils will continue with their interim arrangements until places are constructed for them, but the school will be aiming to get them back to Woodmill for learning and social experiences from January onwards.
S6 pupils will stay at St Columba’s as they have been timetabled into classes with students there. However, they will also be able to use facilities at their own school once it re-opens across the road.
Ms McLean said transition activities with P7s in the Woodmill cluster primary schools were continuing as normal, and the S1 intake of 2020/21 would be starting their secondary education at the fully reinstated Woodmill High.
The fire caused significant damage on August 25. The salvaged accommodation in the main Woodmill building will include some classrooms, eight science labs, three gym halls, three computing rooms, four CDT rooms and four home economics rooms.
