Construction work progressing well at high school in West Lothian with problematic aerated concrete
The project is on track for completion in Spring 2026
Work on a major construction project at a West Lothian high school is progressing well.
A new wing is currently being built at St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn following issues with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).
The project to re-build a significant proportion of the school is on track for completion in Spring 2026, after over two-thirds of the school had to be demolished due to RAAC.
A recent meeting of Council Executive received an update on the project, with the steel frame, concrete floors, and staircases now in place to mark a significant milestone.
Contractor Heron Bros is undertaking the construction work on behalf of the council and development partner, Hub South East.
Discussions are ongoing with the Scottish Government over support to fund the works at St. Kentigern's.
The school's Pupil Voice group has been actively involved in visiting the construction site for updates and sharing them with the wider school community.
Executive councillor for education Andrew McGuire said: 'It's great to hear how much progress has been made in re-building a significant part of St. Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn.
'St Kentigern's is a large secondary school that provides education to many young people from towns and villages in the west of West Lothian.
'We can now look forward to the new building at St Kentigern's being open in 2026, which will deliver huge benefits for pupils and staff.
'Thanks to everyone at the school and those involved in the project for their hard work to ensure a major construction project can be delivered quickly with minimal impact on education.'
The new building will feature a reception area, spacious canteen and dining area, a four-court games hall, dance studio, fitness suite, and a changing village. Additional facilities will include a performance area, a range of learning spaces, a café and nurture rooms, all designed to enhance the learning environment for the young people who attend the school.
The work has been ongoing while the school is operational, with every effort made to keep disruption to a minimum for a project of its scale. A temporary Learning Village has been put in place to support learning, with some PE lessons and SQA exams the only activities requiring additional space off-site.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
More than 450 Glasgow homeless refused hotel room in a month
Between April 1 and May 1, on 456 occasions, people were turned away when they said they needed somewhere to stay that night. The council said it happens when there are no spaces available, and it is seeking extra resources to deal with the housing emergency. READ NEXT:Glasgow's drug consumption centre is working says health secretary Figures also show almost 100 people have been found rough sleeping this year. The housing emergency has led to huge demand for homeless accommodation and the latest count saw 1972 people in hotels and B&Bs in the city. Of those, 1417 were people with refugee status having been granted leave to remain in the UK. There were 314 women also living in the hotels and B&Bs and 71 families. The number of people who reported sleeping rough before they made their homelessness application in the first five months of the year was 433. The Simon Community, which conducts counts of rough sleepers, said it found 97 people sleeping rough. The Glasgow Times has been running the End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign, highlighting the conditions people are subject in some of the 40 hotels used by the council. The latest FOI revealed the hotel owners were paid £4.1m in the month of April alone. The figures were revealed to the Scottish Tenants Organisation by Glasgow City Council under Freedom of Information. READ NEXT:'Don't blame us': Taxis hit back in Glasgow city centre transport row Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator, said: 'The very high numbers of those sleeping rough on the streets of Glasgow is testament to the housing and homeless emergency that has engulfed the city of Glasgow. "Even more alarming is the fact that Glasgow City Council has illegally refused accommodation to over 450 people in only four weeks recently is completely unacceptable. 'The rising costs of homelessness for the Council in paying over £4m to private hotel operators in one month recently if projected for 12 months will mean paying out nearly £50 million over the next year. This is also unacceptable. 'The Scottish Government has to give Glasgow City Council much more money to build tens of thousands of social rented homes to eradicate homelessness as the current budget for 2025/26 at just over £115 million is lower than the affordable housing budget for Glasgow in 2021/22. 'In addition, the British Government has to give Glasgow additional monies to properly house refugees in the city. 'We need action now not more words that mean nothing. A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: 'We're duty bound to find and provide emergency accommodation to those affected by homelessness. Unfortunately, the increasing demand for homeless accommodation in Glasgow means there are times when we haven't been able to do so. 'This happens when there is no accommodation available despite operating in more than 40 hotels across the city to accommodate those who we have a confirmed duty for. 'There is no quick alternative. We are in continual dialogue with both Governments about these challenges and to seek the additional resources necessary to address the challenges we are facing. 'We continue to work with a range of partners to expand emergency accommodation that will provide an alternative to bed and breakfast type accommodation.'
Glasgow Times
4 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Here's why the EIS launched a consultative ballot for strike action
The General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) launched the ballot during her address to the EIS Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Aviemore. READ NEXT: Hunt for gang of masked thugs who broke into Glasgow petrol stations Following a wide-ranging annual address, the general secretary Andrea Bradley said the ballot is due to the Scottish Government and COSLA's failure to reduce teachers' class contact time by 1.5 hours per week as well as the lack of progress in pay negotiations for Scotland's teachers. It comes after the EIS rejected a 3% pay rise offer earlier this year. Concluding her speech, Bradley said: 'There are swathes of evidence showing the extent to which teachers are subsiding the system with free work. Patience isn't infinite and neither is the amount of time that teachers can give to their work away from their own families - their own children, their own partners, their own parents and their own friends. 'We've compromised on timescales, we've said we can compromise on phased implementation but the use of the time for preparation and correction is an absolute red line. We've said that from Day One.' 'We have come to the point where we must escalate this dispute. We must now ask our members to stand up and have their votes counted on workload in this indicative ballot.' READ NEXT: More than 16,000 student beds in pipeline across Glasgow A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government will continue to work with unions and COSLA to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time, which ultimately requires agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. 'This is also why we are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29 million to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce. This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time.'
The National
7 hours ago
- The National
50,000 letters sent to minister over controversial Flamingo Land plans
More than 50,000 people have written to the Public Finance Minister, Ivan McKee, in just two weeks, demanding that the Scottish Government withdraw its approval for Flamingo Land's Loch Lomond mega-resort planning application. In September 2024, the Yorkshire-based theme park operator, Flamingo Land Ltd, had their planning permission in principle rejected after all 14 board members of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Planning Authority. However, the decision to reject the £40 million resort plans was overturned by a Scottish Government official last month, when the developers appealed the decision. READ MORE: More than £1m in funding announced for restoration projects for Scottish coastline The proposal for the resort includes plans for more than 100 holiday lodges, two hotels, a waterpark, a monorail, 372 car parking spaces, shops, and more on the site called Lomond Banks. According to the Scottish Greens, more than 50,000 people have used a portal on their website to call on the Scottish Government to overturn the decision and scrap the development. Greens MSP Ross Greer (below) said the public's opinion on the proposal, which is the most opposed in Scottish planning history with more than 155,000 individuals lodging objections, 'couldn't be clearer'. (Image: PA) He said: 'The Scottish Government has got this badly wrong. They are about to allow a greedy developer to trash the gateway to our National Park. It is not too late for a u-turn though. They can still save Loch Lomond. 'In just two weeks the Planning Minister has heard directly from over 50,000 people calling on him to block these proposals. Public opinion couldn't be clearer and it is backed up by experts including the Government's own environment watchdog. 'I have campaigned side by side with local residents in Balloch for nearly ten years now to stop Flamingo Land. At every stage we have won on the basis of the overwhelming evidence against their plans, but that has all now been overturned by the Scottish Government.' Organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland, the Woodland Trust, the Ramblers, and the Scottish Government environment watchdog, SEPA, also raised objections against the plans. Greer added: 'I do not understand why the Scottish Government are determined to cosy up to greedy theme park operators rather than protect Scotland's world famous natural heritage. 'It's time for Government Ministers to actually listen to the people of Scotland and save Loch Lomond.' The news comes after Scottish ministers refused planning permission for a trotting track for harness racing on the historic Bannockburn battlefield site. The Scottish Government ruled that the proposals would 'introduce new development and urbanisation in one of the few remaining undeveloped parts of the battlefield'. As such, it ruled the development 'would have a significant adverse effect on the character of the battlefield, its setting and sense of place'. The site is where in June 1314 Robert the Bruce and his Scottish army famously defeated English troops led by King Edward II. The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
