Wick school campus plans go on display
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE most complete school campus anywhere in the Highlands – that is how the replacement Wick High and an adjoining primary were described as the plans were publicly unveiled earlier this week.
Designs for the three-to-18 school complex went on display during a consultation in the town’s Assembly Rooms on Monday in advance of the plannning application being lodged.
Construction of the £19 million secondary and the adjoining primary – an amalgamation of the existing South school and Pulteneytown Academy – is scheduled to start in October and be completed in July 2015.
Representatives of the Highland Council and architects GMA Ryder met with members of the public to discuss the designs and get comments before submitting its planning application.
Highland Council architect Philip Shannon said the intention is to create a two floor open-plan campus that can be used by the entire community.
"The building will have a life span of 60 years and the spaces will be nicer for the kids, brighter, more open and geared towards a particular curriculum which the school is encouraging," he said.
"The community will also be able to socialise and use the facilities along with the nursery facility to create a hub."
The campus will consist of two senior school teaching wings, a primary school wing, together with a sports block, library and swimming pool with fitness suite.
The primary school will have its own separate access entrance with assisted special needs wings for both primary and secondary schools.
The current synthetic pitch at the school will be kept along with the creation of two new sports pitches.
"The buildings are designed on two floors as everything is at a lower scale, but classrooms will be the same size as the existing ones," he said.
The new secondary is to incorporate a technical wing – home to subjects such as maths, sciences, technical subjects and home economics – and an arts wing, which will base subjects such as English, modern languages, art and social sciences.
The library and sports facilities will be open to the public seven days a week between 7am and 10pm.
Head of support services Ron McKenzie said feedback from the public had been positive.
He believed that the designs on show are an exciting prospect for Wick.
"This will be the most complete campus in the Highlands in terms of the facilities that will be included.
"The initial designs are quite exciting – the 3-18 campus is good from the point of view of delivering the Curriculum for Excellence.
"We are trying to achieve the objectives set in the Scottish Government’s real estate strategy. What we’ve got in Wick is a clear community hub model coming into the campus where students will enter at three years old and stay until 18.
"We are trying to design the school that is comfortable, moving away from the traditional classroom model and having an open resource area."
The current Wick High is set to be put up for sale, failing which the council will would look at alternative uses for it.
