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Watch video: New £15m Broomhill Primary School begins to take shape

New state-of-the-art school begins to rise from the ground as classroom block is constructed.

A brand new school is taking shape in the West End of Glasgow - although work is not due to be completed until February 2018.

The first structure at the new £15m Broomhill Primary School has been rising from the ground in recent weeks.

https://youtu.be/HYlr2yLDB4Y

Watch: Estates manager David McEwan explains how the new school will look and function.

The new classroom block fronting Woodcroft Avenue is the first tangible sign of how the new school will sit on the site of the former campus.

Work is expected to progress next on the main school building at the north side of the site.

Glasgow West End Today was invited to take a look at the work, which is being carried out by City Building.

Impression: The view along Woodcroft Avenue when the school is completed.

The new school will replace two sites that have traditionally made up the primary school.

A lower annexe on Randolph Road is still in use by P1s to P4s, while the P5s to P7s - who were moved out of the old Upper School last year to make way for demolition - are now based temporarily at the former Ladywell School on Victoria Park Drive South, a mile away.

There will be 18 classrooms in total at the new school. Other features include gym hall, drama hall, dining room, flexible breakout spaces, atrium spaces and fully functioning kitchen. A 3G sport pitch will give pupils space to play sport and games.

It is the 44th new-build or refurbished school building to be undertaken in Glasgow over the last decade.

Spacious: The new classrooms will be bright and roomy.

As of the this week (beginning June 6), the build is 16 weeks into its 106-week programme - or around 15 per cent in terms of time.

David McEwan, education estates manager Glasgow City Council, said work was on schedule but still in the early stages of the programme.

"We are about five or six per cent through the work. But a greater proportion of the work will take place in the middle and later stages of the work programme.

"We are well in to the programme but we still have a way to go."

He went on: "Glasgow has got a long history over the last 10 to 15 years in constructing new schools and every time we do one we take the learning from that and apply it to our other schools and make them better, and make small improvements.

Playtime: Pupils will have new spaces around the school to play and study.

"Our classrooms will be state of the art in terms of the amount of natural light coming in, the acoustics will be very good, the temperature control is very sophisticated as well as ventilation systems.

"We want to optimise the learning environment for the children.

"Schools are a much different place since certainly I was there. They are just geared towards giving the children as much of an enriched learning experience as they possibly can."

Broomhill has been badly in need of a new school for many years, as David explained.

Modern: How the school will look from Edgehill Road.

Completion: Broomhill Primary School will be handed over in February 2018.

"The existing school building has been split over two sites and its condition had deteriorated, and that is why the council took the decision to construct a new school.

"The new school will hold 462 pupils. But the design allows for the roll to increase by around 50 if circumstances in the future change."

One of the challenges of the Broomhill build will be to make use of the steep-sided elevation at one end the site.

Foundations: The rate of progress at the site will speed up in coming months.

Cuisine: A purpose-built dining hall will house hungry children.

"Perhaps the most challenging and in many ways the most exciting part of the development will be how we develop this steep side-embankment into what is going to a really an exciting and interesting play area for the children.

Bailie Liz Cameron, Executive Member for Children, Young People & Lifelong Learning said: “Our new schools are state-of-the art and very conducive to learning in the 21st century.

“I know that the staff, children and parents are very excited about their new school and are counting down the days until they can utilise all the wonderful new facilities.”

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