Funds for Kingussie High School extension get go-ahead
Highland councillors have approved an additional £550,000 for the upgrading of Kingussie High School in a bid to ease the problem of classroom overcrowding.
The extra money, which will bring the total cost of the scheme to £3.6 million, was agreed by the council’s education, culture and sport committee at its latest meeting.
The funding includes £80,000 to be spent on water sprinklers.
Head teacher John Tracey said: "We are absolutely delighted to have the extra funding allocated. This will allow upgrading and improvements throughout the main building, which will make the school environment so much better for pupils and staff.
"Along with the new block, this will make Kingussie High School much more fit for the 21st Century."
Mike Donaghy, chairman of the school’s parent council, described the funding as "fantastic news".
He said: "This will give the school more character. It will make the school look less dreary from the outside, making it a nicer place for kids to go to and for people to want to work in."
Local Highland councillor Gregor Rimell has campaigned for years for the school to be upgraded. He said the amount being spent on the school was long overdue.
He said: "The huts will go, and there will be ample classroom space. New benefits will include social areas for pupils, and more space outside for recreation.
"There will be proper facilities for music, instead of a shabby classroom, where successive teachers have followed the lead of John Crombie in developing music over more than 20 years.
"I have spent years persuading members and officials of the needs of the school. I thank them for their courtesy under my perpetual lobbying, but most of all for this development, which will make the school a pleasure to learn in."
He added: "Both secondary schools in Badenoch and Strathspey will be fit for purpose, and the new primary school for Aviemore will be unique in Highland."
The originally approved expenditure for the removal of the infamous hut accommodation and the construction of an extension to the main school building was £2.65 million.
In addition, in September last year the ECS committee approved further spending totalling £400,000 for a dedicated Additional Support Needs Unit within the classroom extension.
This will mean youngsters from Badenoch and Strathspey will no longer have to take round trips of as much as 80 miles to Inverness or even further for their educational provision once the new facility opens.
In addition, Mr Tracey requested that long overdue work to modify the school’s entrance and reception area was included within the project.
A report to the committee stated: "The accommodation schedules for the project have now been completed and an updated cost plan produced. This has resulted in the project value increasing to £3.6 million, approximately £550,000 above the approved budget."
The main contributory factors include:
•Inclusion of sprinklers – a legal requirement for the development (£80,000);
• relocation of the biomass boiler (£100,000);
• redesign of reception and entrance area (£150,000);
• links between main building and new extension (£100,000); and
• other remedial works (£120,000).
Construction work on the two-storey block of 12 classrooms is due to start in June this year, and pupils are expected to be able to move into the new classrooms by August, 2013.
The school now has many more pupils than the roll of 350 when it opened in 1970, and there has been a long campaign by the parent council to have the school upgraded.
The prefabricated units put into the school 30 years ago as a temporary measure to alleviate overcrowding are still being used.
Highland Council’s proposal is to create eight general classrooms, a music suite with practice rooms and a recording studio, plus other staff and pupil facilities in a modular unit to replace the existing pre-fab classrooms.
The total floor area is expected to be around 1,000 square metres, and the new building will have a lifespan of more than 60 years.
