Ground breaking at new school

The state of the art two-storey school, which is a key part of the Council’s 10-year plan to improve the school estate, will be built on the site of the old school by Kier Construction. The school will have nine classrooms, four supported learning spaces and specially designed outdoor learning zones, play areas and a new artificial sports pitch.

Councillor Jim McMahon, Depute Leader of the Council performed the official ground breaking and was joined by Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Chief Education Officer and Head of Education.

Councillor Jim McMahon said: “This is a really exciting time for Netherthird Primary School and the whole community. It was a real honour to perform the official ground breaking with Head Teacher Jemma Donnelly and Evie from P5 and Lucy from P2. Jemma has worked closely with Kier and the project team helping to develop the design for the new school. She is committed to keeping parents, carers and the young people updated as the exciting new building starts to take shape.

“I know that the children are really excited about visiting the site for planned special activity days and I was also delighted to hear from Kier that there will be 11 work experience placements for our young people during the build. Kier has also committed to holding seven construction careers events for our young people, so the build will have a positive impact on the wider community.”

Phil McDowell, regional director at Kier Construction North & Scotland, said: “We have extensive experience building new schools across Scotland and we are delighted East Ayrshire Council has chosen us to deliver this much-needed new school in Netherthird.

“The local community has been involved in this project from the start and this involvement is set to continue as we look to work with local supply chain partners and provide job and training opportunities as we construct the new school. We will also keep residents up-to-date with the progress we are making as we focus on delivering the new school in time for the next academic year.”

East Ayrshire Council has worked with Kier Construction previously on the William McIlvanney Campus in Kilmarnock.