A groundbreaking ceremony has marked the start of the next major phase of works on the replacement development at Liberton High School.

Contractor Balfour Beatty welcomed Head Teacher Alison Humphreys, current high school and primary school pupils who will be educated at the new school, and Education Convener Cllr Joan Griffiths, Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills at the Scottish Government.

The construction of the school is due to be completed by early 2026 and has been funded from the Scottish Government's Learning Estate Investment Programme and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Once pupils and staff have moved into the new building, the second phase will be the demolition of the old school which is due to be completed within a year.

The plans for the school, which will have capacity for 1,200 pupils, will consist of a variety of inspirational and inclusive spaces for learning. Classrooms, studios, workshops and science labs will connect and work with shared collaborative areas and breakout spaces, providing learners with more personalisation and choice over their learning environment.

Sports facilities include a floodlit multi use games area, basketball court and athletics facilities. The current tennis and beach volleyball courts and mountain bike trail will be retained as will the sports block.

A new fitness suite and dance studio will be provided to complement the existing sports facilities. There will also be outdoor learning spaces and a grassed amphitheatre.

A key part of the new school will be the community campus features as it will include non-educational facilities such as a café, library and flexible workspaces.

The school will also be constructed to Passivhaus standards designed to meet the city-wide aspirations for our schools to be as energy efficient as possible in response to the climate emergency and net zero targets.

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The building has been designed to be energy efficient and will utilise high-performance windows and doors, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery to reduce carbon emissions, improve indoor air quality and decrease heating bills.

Councillor Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "It was great to join pupils at the groundbreaking event for the replacement Liberton High School yesterday. Our new school campuses are innovatively and sustainably designed so they are inspirational places for learning for the next generation of young people creating a vibrant and thriving learning environment.

"The Liberton Community Campus is a really exciting project which provides an amazing opportunity to create a community lifelong learning and sports hub to replace the existing school. This means public services can be co-located with links to active travel networks, green infrastructure and public transport networks.

"Our Community Hub vision for the building to be 'more than a school' aligns with our 20 Minute Neighbourhood Strategy – to localise and co-locate services, making them more accessible for communities and to improve the experiences and outcomes for everyone. This is all part of the Council's plan to support the wellbeing of everyone and end poverty and isolation in Edinburgh."

Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, said: "The Liberton Community Campus is another example of the Scottish Government working together with local authorities to provide learning environments which are both modern and state-of-the art. The Scottish Government will invest over £21 million in the Campus and I am grateful to the Council for providing me with the opportunity to get a glimpse of how our support will be of significant benefit to pupils and their families in the local area.

"Right across the country, we are continuing to invest in Scotland's schools through the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme. Thanks to direct investment from the Scottish Government, the quality of our school estate has improved from 61% of schools in good or satisfactory condition in 2007, to 90.7% in 2023. We will continue to work with local authorities, who own school buildings, to drive improvements across the school estate."

Alison Humphreys, Headteacher at Liberton High School, said: "The Liberton High School community, and our wider learning community including Craigour Park, Gilmerton, Liberton and Prestonfield Primary Schools, are very excited about the creation of our new Liberton Community Campus. Many of our future pupils are currently at these primary schools, so it was very important to us that they played a part in the special event yesterday to celebrate the work on the site.

"In addition to a new secondary school with state-of-the-art facilities for learning, the building will also include a community library, community cafe, partner agency spaces and community fitness facilities. This is something that we are really looking forward to as it will bring so many opportunities for the wider public to use the space as a hub for accessing supports, learning, and fitness, and for socialising too."

Hector MacAulay MBE, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty's regional business in Scotland, said: "It was an honour to join with colleagues and pupils from Liberton High School today to mark this important occasion.

"As we embark on the next phase of the project with construction now underway, we remain committed to delivering a modern, safe and sustainable learning estate that will enhance and support communities and improve the lives of families in the local area."