The completion of Perth and Kinross’ final community campus means more than a quarter of the region’s children are now being taught in state-of-the-art schools.
Monday saw the handover of keys for the second and final phase of the new North Inch Community Campus in Perth, marking the end of construction work on the nursery and primary school section.
Pre-school to P7 children from St John’s RC Academy, who are based at Stormont Street in Perth, will move into their new classrooms later this month.
The secondary school, community library and sports, cultural and leisure facilities at the North Inch campus opened in March last year.
Neil Revie of Axiom Education handed over control of the building to council leader Ian Miller, who said the features on offer are ”second to none”.
He told The Courier: ”Our intention as a council in taking forward the Investment in Learning Programme was to make a major improvement to teaching, learning and community provision in Perth and Kinross.
”This is a great day for pupils and staff at St John’s Academy and the wider local community the facilities here are excellent. With the completion of this campus, we now have over 25% of our pupils being taught in new, state-of-the-art buildings.”
He added that the council intends to carry on with its programme of improvements, with further new schools and upgrades being given ”top priority” in its future capital spending plan.
Mr Revie said: ”I am delighted that we can celebrate the completion of the North Inch Community Campus, highlighting the success of this major project for Perth and Kinross.”
On Thursday morning, all the primary pupils at St John’s RC Academy made a special visit to their new home, walking from the North Inch to the campus accompanied by a piper.
Campus leader Audrey May said: ”This is an exciting time for everyone at St John’s and I know our youngest learners are really keen to see the completed nursery and primary school for themselves.”
A total of six new education and community facilities have been built through Perth and Kinross Council’s £136 million Investment in Learning Programme since 2009. Planning for the huge project began back in 2003.
The five other campuses are in Kinross (Loch Leven), Crieff (Strathearn), Blairgowrie, Aberfeldy (Breadalbane) and Perth (Glenearn).
Construction and ongoing maintenance is being delivered through a partnership between Perth and Kinross Council and the Axiom Education consortium.
The sports facilities are being run by Live Active Leisure, with catering on campus by Tayside Contracts.