Over two hundred pupils will soon be benefiting from the construction of a new, purpose built primary school in Antonshill next year.

Pupils from St Francis Xavier’s RC primary performed the official ‘turf-cutting’ ceremony for the school on Tuesday.

A £6.8 million contract was awarded to Kier Scotland of Glasgow last month to build the new school and work commenced on site at the end of March.

The new school will accommodate up to 217 pupils and in addition will also include a 40 place nursery class.

The school design uses a wide range of the latest environmental and technical features designed to give pupils the best learning opportunities and experiences and also provide staff with flexible options for delivering learning.


The school will feature eight classes with break-out rooms and flexible teaching areas. It will also feature a library, administration offices, staff rooms, sports hall/gym, dining hall and community facilities.

Internally, classrooms will feature modern interactive smart-board technology, natural ventilation and insulated walls, floors and roofs that exceed current building standards.

Dr Alex Waddell, Convener of Education said: "It is great to see the work being finally started on the school which will be a great asset to the entire community and it will offer pupils a great chance to learn in a modern, state of the art building.

"The design of the school both internally and externally will allow all staff to make best use of the space available and allows for greater flexibility in planning teaching and learning activities throughout the school.

"We are also aware of rising energy costs so we have made sure that all aspects of energy efficiency have been incorporated in the design of the school by using the latest techniques such as solar panels, high-efficiency heating and lighting and a comprehensive building management system to control these."

The new school project is expected to be completed by June 2012, to allow the school to open in August 2012.

(GK/KMcA)