Designed by Elder and Cannon Architects and carried out by main contractor CBC Ltd, the project is the latest in Inverclyde Council’s unprecedented £270m Schools Estate programme delivering new and refurbished schools across the area.

Education & communities convener, Councillor Terry Loughran, said: “The school was built over 40 years ago so this is a project that has been warmly welcomed in the village and will serve the children well for many years to come. The building will be completely stripped back and effectively re-built incorporating a new gym, new classroom arrangements and learning spaces. It will be a state-of-the-art school and something the whole village community will be rightly proud of.”

The primary school has moved to the former St Stephen’s High School in Port Glasgow for the duration of the work. The nursery school is in temporary accommodation within the school grounds at Kilmacolm.

As well as a complete upgrade internally, new rooflights are being introduced to increase natural daylight in classrooms and sections of the building will be re-clad.

The existing blaes pitch will be replaced with a new, fully enclosed and floodlit multi use games area, (MUGA) and the playground will be re-lined.

Improvements to school grounds security will see the introduction of new CCTV cameras and new railing. A new main entrance canopy will also be installed.

The project is being delivered in partnership with hub West Scotland.

Chief executive Debbie McNamara said: “We are proud to work with our partners Inverclyde Council on another essential school project. It was a delight to have the children represented at today’s milestone event.”

The work is due to be completed by October 2016.