Construction work has started on a new £88 million high school that will have the capacity to accommodate around 1, 800 pupils.
Future students of the new South West Fife high school, which will replace Inverkeithing HS, watched on as the first spade went into the ground in a ceremony on the site of the new school.
Surrounded by pupils, staff, councillors and project contractors, Fife Council Leader David Ross and Education Cabinet Secretary Jenny Gilruth cut the first sod together, to mark the beginning of the building phase of the project.
Cllr Ross said: "The ceremony is a significant step on the way to having a new high school for South West Fife, to replace the current Inverkeithing High School and I’m pleased that we had some of the young people who will benefit from this new school with us.
"This school will be the latest in the Council’s programme to renew all its secondary schools and marks a total capital investment of £88m from the Council with revenue funding support from Scottish Government.
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"We'll be working with our trusted partners, hub East Central Scotland, contractors BAM and the Scottish Futures Trust to deliver a brand new state of the art high school for the young people of South West Fife.
"It demonstrates the Council’s continued commitment to provide the best learning environment and facilities we can for Fife’s young people and this new school is an exciting opportunity which will benefit learners and community users now and into the future."
The new school, which will replace the old Inverkeithing High School, will be the next new building to join a long list of schools built as part of the Building Fife's Future programme, which includes the Dunfermline Learning Campus which will open in August this year.
Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, said: “The South West Fife High School project is another clear example of the Scottish Government working together with local authorities to provide modern, state-of-the-art learning environments.
"The new school will be of significant benefit to pupils as they progress through their school career as well as providing a range of facilities for the whole community to use.
“Since 2007, the number of schools in ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ conditions has increased from 61% to over 90% thanks to direct investment from the Scottish Government. In partnership with local authorities, we will continue to build on this progress even further through the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme, with over £39.5 million expected to come to this project alone.”
The school, which is being built on the former Rosyth Fleet Grounds, is programmed to open in 2026.
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