Well schooled
A NEW chapter has been written in the life and times of Deanburn Primary School, Bo'ness.
At the start of 2002, the upper school was destroyed by fire. Thankfully there were no casualties, but there was extensive damage.
But bad news has been transformed into a success story, with the new building being hailed as a "benchmark" for new schools.
Pupils and staff who had to endure mobile classrooms since the fire moved into their new 2.7 million school on May 23.
Here, chief reporter Julie Currie takes a look round the state-of-the-art building.
There's a real sense of security as you walk into the main entrance of the new Deanburn Primary School.
Everyone has to sign in at reception before accessing the main building.
And once through the security doors, the first thing that hits you is the brightness...thanks to a fantastic glass atrium which runs the length of the school.
The lower floor now houses a huge multi-purpose gym hall, which will be used for sports, assemblies and school shows. There are also changing and shower rooms.
Just off the gym hall lies the dining room, with an in-house kitchen, where children can buy school dinners or eat packed lunches.
The dining room offers fantastic views onto the playground which now boasts benches and tables for al-fresco dining, as well as a pergola and play shelters.
Back into the main entrance corridor, the classrooms for the junior school — P1 to P5 — are a designer's dream. Each class can open out onto the glass atrium area or be closed off, giving teachers the chance to expand study areas or have privacy.
Also on the lower floor, there is a comfortable lounge for parents where mums and dads can talk informally but in private to teachers.
Fantastic
Upstairs boasts a glass roof which opens for ventilation. It is here that the P6 and P7 classes are based, along with head teacher Martha Whitt-ington's office, the depute head's office, a lift for disabled access, an IT suite, library and staff room.
It is from the staff room that you are able to glimpse just one of the many fantastic new facilities in the school — a grass roof. From here, rainwater is collected to flush the school toilets!
It's certainly different from any school I've had the "pleasure" to study in!
But what do the staff, pupils and locals think?
Mrs Whittington said: "At our open days everyone was very positive, there were no negative comments at all.
"The staff and pupils have coped extremely well and have met education standards every year, despite being in mobile accommodation.
"But being in this building has made a tremendous difference already. We've also now got the infrastructure for new technology and have 20,000 left to restock the library. The children have their requests in already!''
Falkirk Council's education committee convener Tom Coleman, who has overseen the three-year project, said: "The building is everything I hoped it would be and more. It may have cost the council an extra 700,000 but it was worth every penny. We could have repaired the damage to the old school but decided early on to get something better. Deanburn will set the benchmark for future school builds in Scotland."
Local councillors John Constable and Andrew Grah-am shared Mr Coleman's enthusiasm.
John Constable said: "Everything has been taken into consideration for modern teaching methods. It's a hugely innovative building."
Andrew Graham added: "The most important thing is that the teachers and children have a school that is second to none. It was a bad news story turned into a good one."
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Weather for Linlithgow
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
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