Royal opening of Cawdor Primary School
View our Photo Gallery of the opening
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal today (31st October 2007) officially opened Cawdor Primary School as she unveiled a plaque in front of over 150 guests, teachers, friends and families of the 126 pupils at the school.
The new school is one of 11 being built for The Highland Council by Alpha Schools (Highland) Ltd, a consortium of Morrison PLC and Noble Fund Managers, in a second education PPP scheme, valued at £134 million.
Convener of The Highland Council, Councillor Sandy Park said: “This is an exciting time for young people participating in education and the development of new technologies is changing the shape of education, offering opportunities for study and access to information which could only be dreamt of previously. I wish everyone (pupils, teachers, staff, families and friends) all the best with your excellent new school and trust that you will have a bright future in this facility.”
Costing £4.7 million the primary school at Cawdor replaces the old school which served the community of Cawdor well over the last 150 years. Linking the old with the new is the school bell which has been relocated from the old Cawdor Primary.
The new school features: six primary classrooms; a resource and library area; p pupil support room; nursery room with it own enclosed play area; large multi-purpose hall; separate general purpose hall to be used as a dining room and cloakrooms, toilets and showers. Outside there is a hard play area and grass pitch as well as a cycle compound, car parking spaces and a drop off zone.
The school also has dedicated space for use by the local community including:
a community room and a kitchen, playgroup room and another meeting room; and
the main hall is also larger than normal with extra storage so it can be used by the community in evenings, weekends and non school days.
Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee
Councillor Bill Fernie said: “This new school has taken primary education in the area out of premises that there were not fit for purpose into state of the art modern facilities fit for the future. This is another landmark in our administration’s objective of placing primary schools at the centre of our communities and working to secure their long term future by developing community schools with a wide range of activities and services. It demonstrates our commitment to sustaining diverse Highland communities and investing for future generations.
Fiona Lewthwaite, Head Teacher, Cawdor Primary School said: “The improvement this building has made to learning and teaching is astounding. As a staff, we look forward to further developing the skills, knowledge and understanding of our children in this tremendous 21st Century school.
“The excitement on the children’s faces when they entered the school for the first time will never be forgotten. We now have a school which gives us a safe, healthy, bright and enhanced learning environment which is simply a joy to use. It is fully equipped to deliver to our children all aspects of the curriculum from Nursery to Primary 7 and supported by ICT we have only dreamed of before.”