Braeview Academy pupils hailed newly-opened temporary facilities as “better” than those available in the school building before it was ravaged by fire.
The pupils returned to the school this week after spending the last three months at Baldragon Academy and Craigie High.
Temporary “high-quality portable units” have been built on an area next to the Braeview building, a large section of which was damaged after it was engulfed in flames on September 11.
The two dozen new units house maths, English, science, music and drama, while other rooms include a large dining area, staff room and ICT suites.
Braeview pupils have dubbed the new facilities ‘the village’ with many describing the set-up as offering more than that the school building, which was due to be upgraded before the fire.
S6 pupil Samuel-Reid Harper said: “I think the negatives seem mostly trivial.
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“As a whole, everything is a big upgrade. Obviously the school fire was a bad thing but now the facilities are better than they were.
“It shows something good can come from what happened.”
The council’s education convener Stewart Hunter said: “I’d seen the plans but I don’t think you realise you big it is until you actually see it.
“It’s fantastic. It has risen from the ashes, literally. The kids themselves were saying the facilities are better than they had before the fire.
“We recognise that Braeview was one of the schools that was next on our list to get work done. The dining room, for example, is much better than what they had before.
“It’s not how we would have liked to have got here because we didn’t want a fire but actually we have got some really good facilities for the kids and that’s really going to help them.”
He added the long term plan for the school was still to be worked out and that the priority had been to get pupils back on site.
Executive director of children and families services Paul Clancy added: “Although the other schools welcomed the pupils, this is a far improved situation.
“To think that we have pupils back here three months on from half this school building having a catastrophic fire I think is frankly miraculous.”
There had been reports of friction between the different schools during the temporary set-up, however head teacher Lesley Elder said it had been mostly “business as usual.”
She said: “It has been stressful but manageable because of the collaboration between all the teachers and staff.
“Only a few months ago we came to these schools with nothing — no materials and no accommodation.
“The other schools welcomed us. The pupils have told us they felt fine and quite enjoyed being there and made a lot of friends.
She added: “We have deliberately asked for feedback from them (for the move back) because we wanted it to be as seamless as possible.
“It was very useful for us to consult with them going forward.”
A 15-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the fire.
