New Edinburgh primary school delayed for year by Covid

A NEW primary school due to open next year has been delayed for 12 months because of Covid.
The new school is now due to open in August 2022The new school is now due to open in August 2022
The new school is now due to open in August 2022

The school in Canaan Lane, Morningside, which will cater for 462 primary pupils and offer 80 nursery places, is needed to relieve the pressure on nearby primaries which are at or over capacity.

It was scheduled to open in August 2021, but now parents have received a letter from the city council saying it will open in August 2022.

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The letter told parents said: “Due to delays arising from the Covid-19 pandemic the new primary school at Canaan Lane will not be ready to open in August 2021. If there are no further significant delays to the construction process, the new school will instead open in August 2022.

"This means the catchment changes associated with the new school will not be implemented until the P1 registration process opens in November

2021. We are keeping the situation monitored and will provide an update should timescales have to vary again from these latest expectations.”

The school is designed to help ease accommodation pressure on James Gillespie's, South Morningside and Bruntsfield primaries, where classrooms are full.

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It had originally been expected to open in 2020, but in 2018 – despite assurances from the contractors that work would be completed in time - the council decided to postpone the opening for a year to ensure "unexpected delays" did not force the authority to scramble to find alternative schools for new pupils starting P1.

The council said the building was due to be completed in late 2021 and when it became available, pupils from South Morningside Primary School’s Deanbank Annexe would transfer to the new building for the remainder of that academic year, allowing work to begin on the refurbishment of the Deanbank Annexe building.

The delay to the new building also means South Morningside Primary School’s nursery will not move to the new building until January 2022 at the

earliest. Parents can continue to register for places at South Morningside Primary School’s nursery at Fairmilehead.

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Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs said: “It is very disappointing for local parents the council can no longer guarantee a new school in Canaan Lane. It must do all they can to try and get the new school ready for next year’s intake if possible.”

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