A new £8M school in Stenhousemuir is set to be officially opened by Scotland’s leading Roman Catholic.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Scotland’s only living cardinal, will visit the school on Thursday 22 November to lead the ceremony at St Bernadette’s Primary, the area’s newest denominational primary school.
The new school can accommodate up to 217 pupils and has a self-contained nursery for up to 40 pupils morning and afternoon.
In addition, the new design (which was created in-house by a team from Falkirk Council) features many interesting aspects that aid and encourage better learning for the pupils including;
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A large assembly/sports hall and all weather seven aside pitch that can used by the community;
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Natural lighting and ventilation throughout;
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Folding walls that allow flexible sized teaching areas and;
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An adventure trail, sand pit and wildlife garden in the outdoor area.
Energy efficiency is also at the heart of the new school with features such as recycled newspaper used as insulation; ‘grey’ water toilet system using rainwater; solar thermal collectors that help pre-heat water and reduce costs.
Cllr Alan Nimmo, Convener of Education said: “It is a great occasion that our official opening can be performed by Cardinal O’Brien and the entire school community will be very excited to welcome him and look forward to his thoughts.
“The building itself is a great asset to the community and has many facilities that can be used by local groups.
“It incorporates many features that ensure energy costs are kept low, children have a great environment in which to learn and provides a robust and flexible school for the foreseeable future.
“The in-house design has been highly recognised regionally in the Building of the Year 2012 competition organised by the Royal Incorporation of Architects giving it a real presence in the local community.”
The school has also been designed with future expansion in mind with another seven classrooms being able to be added if required to provide a full ‘two-stream’ school.