This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Dalkeith schools come together
09/02/2004
First Minister Jack McConnell today officially opened
Dalkeith Schools Community Campus, and paid tribute to the
values and attitudes of young Scots.
The campus brings together Dalkeith High School, St
David's Roman Catholic High School and Saltersgate special
school on one site.
These new schools are the latest to open as a result of
the school building programme of the devolved Scottish
government. Around Scotland 300 schools will be rebuilt or
refurbished as a result.
Jack McConnell said:
"The opening of Dalkeith Schools Community Campus is a
major milestone in providing excellent schools and
facilities for pupils and the wider community. Today we
should celebrate the new opportunities that it will offer
everyone to learn, nurture their talents and enjoy out of
school activities.
"In a modern Scotland, schools are at the heart of their
communities. Regardless of background, religion or special
needs, youngsters - and the wider community in the Dalkeith
area now have the classrooms, sports and social facilities
they deserve.
"This campus is not about eroding differences - it is
about celebrating difference and working together to get
the best results for every pupil."
He went on:
"My recent experience of young Scots is positive. They
have good values and they challenge the prejudices and
attitudes of the past. They deserve support from their
elders.
"Whether schools are two miles apart, or two buildings
side by side, all of the adults involved have an absolute
duty to encourage tolerance, respect and understanding.
"Councillors, officials, teachers and parents must help
future generations to develop the values that will help
create a more civilised Scotland.
"A modern country, celebrating diversity, where old
attitudes have been dumped in the dustbin of history."
The First Minister was joined at the official opening by
Cardinal Keith O'Brien and the Very Reverend Dr John B
Cairns, former Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
The new campus offers exceptional sport and leisure
facilities, available to all three schools and the wider
community. These include classrooms designed for a 21st
century curriculum as well as an all weather running track,
an all weather full size floodlit football and hockey
pitch, three grass football pitches, two grass rugby
pitches and a cricket square. There is also a competition
size swimming pool plus a smaller pool, hydrotherapy pool,
spa pool, steam room and sauna, the first proper theatre
facility in Midlothian in a 500 seat assembly hall and a
large sports hall, with retractable seating for 500
spectators.
The Scottish Executive is investing £2 billion over the
next 6 years in modernising the school estate. That will
build or rebuild 300 schools by 2009.
In June 1999, the Scottish Executive announced support
for a £33 million PPP project for a new campus in Dalkeith
under 30 year contract, at the end of which ownership of
the buildings passes to the Council. The campus is managed
by HBG Facilities Management, part of the company which
built the campus under contract to Midlothian Council.
Construction started in May 2002 and was completed in
October 2003, and the project was delivered on time and on
budget.
As a result of bringing the three schools together,
Saltersgate special school will be able to offer similar
curricular access to high school pupils who would benefit
from their specialist teaching, and, in the future, offer
outreach services to the high schools.
Shared primary school campuses that have been developed
in recent years using the Scottish Executive's investment
in the school estate include St Andrew's Primary School and
Cumbernauld Primary School, which has been described by
both schools as a "fantastic success story", Annbank and
St. Ann's in Mossblown in South Ayrshire, and Pirniehall
and St. David's in Edinburgh.