New plans for school move closer to reality

Jul 7 2011 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

THE building a new primary school in a West Lothian community has moved a step closer after the local community overwhelmingly backed the plans.

In January, West Lothian Council announced they were to invest £1.3 million to fund a replacement Woodmuir Primary School in Breich because the existing school site did not meet the needs of the pupils.

A recent consultation exercise involving council officers, pupils, staff, parents/carers and key stakeholders associated with the school took place to discuss a number of options relating to the proposal to move the school to a site south of Woodmuir Place.

There are also plans for a new multi use games area (MUGA) to be built within the school grounds for community use and outwith school hours.

The proposed move to a new site on the edge of the village received overwhelming support from the local community and education inspectors from HMIE.

In their submission, HMIE said: “Implementation of West Lothian Council proposal is likely to be of significant educational benefit to the children of Woodmuir Primary School as the provision of a new school would overcome the limitations of the current accommodation.

“The proposal has the advantage of being of likely benefit to the community of Breich.”

Andrew Miller, executive councillor for education, said: “Everyone involved in the consultation process was overwhelmingly positive to the proposal and we are delighted with the feedback.

“I’d like to thank everyone who too part in the process. It is extremely important to us that the people of Breich are supportive of the new school.

“The new building will offer modern, high quality accommodation with the potential for greater flexibility in terms of how the space is used.”

Head teacher Elsie Aitken added: “The whole school community are absolutely delighted at the prospect of a new school being built, which would benefit everyone living in Breich.”