Construction work on the new £26.5 million Brechin Community Campus is continuing apace.
It will replace Brechin High School on its Duke Street site and also provide enhanced community leisure facilities, as well as a performance space and accommodation for adult learning and youth activities.
It is being developed in a joint public/private sector partnership between Angus Council and hub East Central Scotland.
Work began at the start of July, when Finance Secretary John Swinney launched the construction phase.
A meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee this month was advised of good bonds being forged between the construction management team and the school, and indeed with residents.
A number of site tours involving staff and pupils have been undertaken, incorporating primary school pupils who will be among the first to attend the new high school.
There are also opportunities for community groups to visit the site by arrangement.
Staff engagement activities are being developed to help with the transition from a school to a community campus environment.
Contractor Robertson Construction is establishing community ties that are directly linked with the project.
They include work experience placements, curriculum support activities, as well as other apprenticeship and training opportunities.
Phase one of the project is scheduled to run until February 2016, with the school’s populace decanting to the new building between in February or March that year.
Phase two involves the demolition of the old school building from April to July 2016, with external works, including a synthetic sports pitch and new parking facilities being undertaken from August 2016 through to completion in October that year.
The existing Brechin High School has a roll of approximately 660 pupils and has around 50 teaching staff.
While the origins of the school can be traced back more than 500 years to 1429-30 and the formation of a school choir at Brechin Cathedral, the current building opened its doors in 1970.
The new campus is being built across 11,200 square metres and will cater for 800 pupils, as well as the community.