Depute council leader, Cammy Day, and vice education convenor, Alison Dickie, visited the site of the new Castlebrae Community Campus, alongside the school’s head teacher, longest-serving member of staff and pupils. Whilst on site with the council’s development partner hub South East and the main contractor Morrison Construction, a final piece of concrete was poured on the top floor, marking significant progress on the school’s build after work started on site earlier this year.

Plans for the brand new 700 capacity secondary school, which has the potential to be increased to 1,200, were developed after extensive consultation with educationalists, service users and the local community.

The new Castlebrae Community Campus is being built in the heart of Craigmillar, next to the East Neighbourhood Centre and Library. An important aspect of the design is the provision of a variety of spaces for learning activities to support collaborative and inclusive practice, developing and enhancing strategies for continuing improvement in attainment and achievement.

Externally there will be extensive landscaped areas for outdoor learning activities and a 3G artificial football pitch, which will be available for use by the local community outside school hours, as well as a community town square.

Councillor Cammy Day, depute leader for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The pupils and staff were hugely excited for their new school as they have been involved throughout the whole process so they feel a real sense of ownership. The new Castlebrae Community Campus which will provide a first-class learning environment and an exciting, inspirational and creative hub for the whole community. This is an exciting period for education in the capital with recent new builds and projects under construction demonstrating our ambitious new school building programme with £500m investment planned over the next ten years.”

Councillor Alison Dickie said: “It was great to see how far work has progressed on the site since my last visit especially in the light of construction restrictions caused by the pandemic. As a council we are taking every opportunity to innovatively build schools for the future that are fit for 21st Century learning - as this exciting design shows with extensive landscaped areas for outdoor learning activities. The new schools we are creating all support greater accessibility and inclusion for all our young people. We will continue to develop the designs of our future school projects so they can support the needs of all learners and provide a much more inclusive environment promoting greater health and wellbeing.”

Greig Jamieson, hub South East’s commercial director, added: “We’re delighted to have welcomed guests along to mark such an important milestone in the new Castlebrae Community Campus’s construction. It really is taking shape and is set to be a fantastic, modern learning space for pupils and staff, as well as an asset for the local community. We have a track record of delivering high quality educational facilities in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and we look forward to continuing this relationship as the project progresses.”

Eddie Robertson, managing director of Morrison Construction Building Central, said: “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone in the construction of Castlebrae Community Campus. The pandemic has undoubtedly presented considerable challenges to the project team but days like this demonstrate their commitment to our clients and the commitment of the wider Morrison business to staying on track and providing an excellent new facility for local students.”

Work on site is progressing well and the new Castlebrae Community Campus is due to open early in 2022.