Work is underway on a new £8.2 million primary school in Stirling, the council has announced.

The first sod of the new St Ninians Primary School was cut during a ceremony on Wednesday, 28 October.

Learning Minister Alasdair Allan attended the event, alongside councillors, school children and representatives of the development team.

The new school is being built by project leaders Hub East Central Scotland and builders Robertson Construction Central.

The school's existing Victorian section is to be retained and refurbished to provide a dedicated home for the nursery class, while a new two-storey building for primary school pupils and staff will be developed.

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In addition a wide 'school street' will be built to allow break out from classrooms for small group learning, along with more flexible dining, social and PE spaces.

The project is being funded by both Stirling Council and the national Scottish Schools for the Future programme.

Learning Minister Alasdair Allan said: "I'm delighted I could be part of the ground breaking ceremony which marked an exciting milestone for the new St Ninian's Primary School.

"The Scottish Government has worked closely with Stirling Council to help improve its school estate and I'm pleased we could provide almost £5 million in funding towards this project through our Scotland's Schools for the Future programme.

"The new school will be a fantastic environment for pupils to learn in when it opens next year and will provide modern facilities the whole community will enjoy for generations to come.

Robertson's MD David Cairns added: "We've spent several weeks clearing and preparing the site and it's great now to be able to start work on delivering this new school for the community who we'll be working closely with throughout the build."

(LM/CD)