The second multi-million pound school campus to open in a week in Dundee welcomed its first pupils on Friday.
The £16 million Coldside Campus, located on Ann Street, contains pupils of Our Lady’s Primary, Rosebank Primary and Frances Wright Nursery School.
The schools were among six to close for good in the summer with a new £17 million North East “super school” having also opened yesterday at East Lothian Crescent.
The school, now one of Scotland’s largest primaries, includes former pupils of Longhaugh Primary, St Francis RC Primary (formerly St Vincent’s and St Luke’s and St Matthew’s) and Quarryview Nursery.
Work on the Coldside Campus, located at the site of the former Alexander Street high-rises, started last year.
As well as providing an educational environment for local youngsters, the complex will also host additional facilities for the community.
Councillor Roisin Smith, depute convener of the children and family services committee, said the excitement of the school’s new pupils filled her with joy.
She said: “It’s fantastic to see it all come together and see the young pupils arrive at this school for the first time.
“It’s a privilege to get to share the excitement of the staff, the pupils, and the parents.
“I was telling the children that this school has been built just for them and it’s lovely to see the reactions and how pleased they are.
“My kids were at Our Lady’s meaning they went to school in the old building so I’m really familiar with it.
“Even since my own children were at school, these new buildings look massively different.
“They’re phenomenal. There’s a much more nurturing atmosphere so the building, the facilities and this ethos is the combination that’s going to give our children a really good education.”
Paul Clancy, the council’s executive director of children and families service, said the opening had been a “long-time coming”.
“This building has been a lot of work,” he said.
“Particularly for the two head teachers, for all the staff, and Tayside Contracts.
“But I think when you see the culmination of the young people coming in you know it’s going to be great for the whole area and the two schools.
“It will be a change for the youngsters from where they’ve come from with the level of IT they have within the classrooms and the resources.
“But they’ll have the same teachers — and it’s the teachers and support staff that make the building.
“There’s no question that top dining, sports, and classroom facilities make it easy for education to be delivered.”
Various uses have been proposed for the former school buildings, with Our Lady’s now one of a number of sites being considered for a new female custody unit by Scottish Prison Service chiefs.
