Parents have welcomed proposals for a multi-million-pound secondary school on the edge of Perth.
The £23 million development is earmarked for land at the city’s Bertha Park and is due to open in early 2018.
The Scottish Government agreed to partly fund the new establishment after a recent study showed that the Perthshire population was forecast to rise by about 24% in the next 25 years.
The planned 1,100-capacity school will ease pressure on existing establishments, which now face major overcrowding problems.
This week, a public consultation with local families got under way, with the first of a series of eight meetings at Bankfoot.
More than 30 people, mostly parents of primary school pupils, attended the initial seminar at the village’s church centre hosted by council depute provost Bob Band.
He told the meeting: “This will be the first time in about 20 years that a brand new school has been built in Scotland.
“There have obviously been replacement buildings but we are the only local authority that is looking to build a whole new school and that is quite incredible.”
He said that zoned pupils now in primary five would be the first to attend the secondary once it is up and running.
The school will not immediately open to all six year groups but add an extra S1 intake each year, gradually adding to the school’s population over time.
As the roll increases each year, the council will review the staffing requirements and make any adjustments.
Parents at the Bankfoot session said they welcomed the new development but had some concerns about the pupils’ journey to and from lessons through an industrial estate.
They were told that the layout of the site, part of a wider development including new housing and businesses, has still to be finalised.
Local teacher Audrey Mae, who is helping spearhead the project, said that children would be involved in the planning process and will be asked to help design the new facility.
“It is really important that we get the children on board,” she said.
“After all, it is their school, not ours. We want them to feel they are part of the development.”
She said that new teaching jobs would also be created and the hunt for a head teacher would begin in the coming months.
Several grass sports fields are planned as part of the development, as well as an all weather pitch.
Facilities for pupils with additional support needs will also be provided.
The council secured £15.3m of Scottish Government funds for the new school in July 2012. Later that year, the council agreed to pay £7.6m towards the scheme out of its own budget.
A condition of the funding is that the new school must be up and running by the end of March 2018.
The school will be the centrepiece of a larger £40m development in the north of the city which includes proposals for thousands of new homes and a number of businesses, with the potential to create up to 5,000 jobs.
As part of that development, the school will be serviced by the first section of the proposed Cross Tay Link Road between the A93 at Scone and the A9, part of the Perth Transport Future project.