The Stoneywood Primary School will be constructed on the grounds of the former Bankhead Academy which was demolished following a fire in 2012. The site is near the A96 Aberdeen to Inverurie road.

Designed by Scott Brownrigg to accommodate 16 classrooms with direct access to the surrounding grounds, the facility will accommodate 434 pupils from the existing school. The new building will also include eco-friendly facilities such as low-energy central heating and solar panels, while a Toucan crossing will be built on Old Meldrum Road.

Morgan Sindall Construction has been appointed to deliver the new school, assisted by Fairhurst Structures, TUV-SUD, Wardell Armstrong Landscape and Faithful and Gould quantity surveyors.

Councillor Angela Taylor, education and children’s services committee convener, said: “This shows we are delivering on education which was our number one commitment. We are showing this with our investment.

“We are going to have six schools built or started which is phenomenal. I’m delighted Stoneywood is to start.”

Cllr Taylor added the council is doing all it can to repair or replace schools not fit for purpose.

“We have found our estate wasn’t looked after properly for a number of years,” she said.

“We have tried to look at it logically and to build schools which are big enough.

“Kids need a modern education and they need new schools to learn in.

“It will be finished by March but pupils won’t go into it until after the Easter holidays.”

The project is expected to be completed in March 2018.