Pupils, Staff and Guests Celebrate the Official Opening Of Dingwall Academy
Over 800 pupils, staff members and invited guests joined together in Dingwall Academy to celebrate the first full year of education in the £28 million school. During the ceremony, which featured music by the school orchestra and two performances by the junior choir, The Highland Council Convener Sandy Park and Councillor Margaret Paterson, Dingwall and Seaforth, unveiled a plaque to formally mark the official opening of the school.
Councillor Park said: “It is an honour to be here with you for the official opening of this excellent school and to celebrate a successful first year of education under its roof. The new school represents a very significant investment and demonstrates the Council’s commitment to ensuring young people are given the very best learning opportunities in surroundings that match the quality of the teaching provided by our staff.
“The opening of a new school is a major achievement for everyone involved. The development of new technologies is changing the shape of education. There are lots of exciting opportunities for study and more access to information than ever before. I wish you all and the thousands of young people who will be educated here in the future, a very successful and enjoyable time.”
Head Teacher Graham MacKenzie said: “It has been my privilege to oversee the smooth transition of pupils into their new school. When we moved in, the new building held much for us in terms of aspirations, excitement and possibilities for the future. Already some of these aspirations have been fulfilled and Dingwall Academy looks forward to the future with huge confidence.
“Our new school has brought about a renewed sense of optimism, an increased enthusiasm for learning and a reinvigorated and enabled teaching force. The pupils have responded very well to their new environment. They are respectful of the building and the classroom resources and there are clear signs of increasing attainment and achievement both in the academic curriculum and within their broader interests.”
Councillor Paterson said: “A good and prosperous school needs to be at the heart of its local community and we are lucky as here in Dingwall the excellent community facilities incorporated in the school are well used and supported. We can boast that Dingwall has a community school in the true sense of the word. Today’s celebration is a great way to end the school term and I wish all pupils and staff many happy and productive years.”
Dingwall Academy features a wide range of modern fully serviced classrooms including specialist teaching rooms for Art, Music, Health and Food Technology, Craft & Design, Graphic Communication, Science and Information Technology. There is also a large games hall, a gymnasium, a fully equipped fitness room with changing rooms and access to the outdoor floodlit all-weather pitch, new grass pitches and a running track.
Community facilities include a full scale performance venue which was funded through support from The National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council. It has retractable raked seating for an audience in excess of 300 people and a full range of professional sound, lighting and projection equipment.
The school and community library is open 6 days a week and is well stocked with over 24,000 fiction, non-fiction and reference books for adults, teenagers and juniors to enjoy. Six computers are connected to The People’s Network and provide free Internet access for adults with a further 2 computers reserved for the use of children aged 16 and under.
Dingwall Academy was one of 11 schools to be built under the Council’s PPP Programme and was delivered by Alpha Schools (Highland) Ltd, a consortium of Galliford Try Project Investments and Noble Fund Managers, and built by Morrison Construction.