East Renfrewshire's newest high school has opened it doors for the first time today (14 August).

Eastwood High School was constructed under the Government-funded 'Schools for the Future' programme. It was run by the Scottish Futures Trust at a cost of £28.9m.

The development is a £65m joint project between East Renfrewshire and Midlothian Councils that has allowed for the construction of a replacement Eastwood High, and a secondary school in Lasswade.

It is also the first project of its kind in Scotland and following its success, the programme is now being rolled out across the country. The collaborative arrangement, has seen East Renfrewshire and Midlothian councils together saving more than £4m. This was achieved through joint works, such as using the same design team, contractor and suppliers. The schools have similar aspects inside but look completely different on the outside, and have been designed with extensive consultation to meet each authority's specific local needs.

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Eastwood, along with Lasswade, has introduced innovative measures including modern new design in pupil toilets, identically-designed classrooms and dual-purpose common areas.

Convener for Education and Equalities, Councillor Elaine Green, said: "This stunning, modern new Eastwood High represents a very substantial investment by East Renfrewshire Council.

"It offers our young people the opportunity to learn in the very best environment and I am sure pupils and parents alike will be as impressed, inspired and thrilled with their new school as we are.

"We are proud to have played our part in the first ever 'schools for the future' project, leading the way in Scotland as we have done across education.

"The benefits of this type of collaborative working with both the Scottish Futures Trust and our fellow local authority Midlothian can be clearly seen in the savings delivered by both councils.

"This combined project demonstrates that public services can work closely together to deliver projects of real value to local communities."

Also provided as part of the project are separate sports facilities, which include an all-weather pitch with athletics track, games halls, gymnasium and dance studio.

Eastwood High Sports Centre is also available for use by the whole community outside of school hours. Once the old school is demolished, another all-weather pitch will be created on the site. This last stage of the works is scheduled to be undertaken between July and December 2013.

Elsewhere, East Renfrewshire Council has adopted the same SFT joint model for the building of the new Barrhead High School, in collaboration with West Dunbartonshire Council. Work has already begun on designing the facility, which is scheduled to open in August 2015.

(JP/CD)