Tag: Trinity Academy

Trinity Academy transformation

Planning application submitted for refurbishment and Passivhaus extension at Trinity Academy 

A planning application has been submitted to City of Edinburgh Council for the second phase of development at Trinity Academy, a secondary school set within the Victoria Park conservation area in the north of the city.

The project builds upon the award-winning phase one – a new-build sports and outdoor centre that serves the local community as well as Trinity’s pupils – which opened in summer 2022.

Both phases were designed by Holmes Miller, who have a strong track record of designing Edinburgh schools such as Frogston, Canaan Lane and Victoria Primary Schools.

During consultations on the redevelopment, staff, pupils and community felt strongly that the school’s original red sandstone Victorian building on Craighall Road, dating back to 1894, should be retained, refurbished and incorporated into the new design.

If plans are approved, several newer existing school buildings which are no longer fit for purpose will be demolished to make way for a new four-storey extension to the historic building, which will offer modern learning facilities for the school’s 1200 pupils.

The school will remain open during the build and refurbishment process, with detailed plans in place for phasing and decanting to temporary accommodation on site, to minimise disruption to staff and pupils.

Inside the new extension, classroom accommodation will be arranged around a social and dining ‘heart’ which will provide a central point where the school can come together to socialise, learn and collaborate, fostering a sense of community and inclusion. A timber-clad ‘learning stair’ will also connect the school’s main reception space to the ‘heart’.  The original Victorian building will link directly to this central space, bringing both buildings together. 

Designed to meet Passivhaus standards, the extension will aim to reduce energy demand for space heating or cooling, driving down running costs and carbon emissions. It will also meet the Council’s city-wide aspirations for the curriculum to be inclusive, and to meet all digital and outdoor learning requirements.

A carefully considered landscape plan for the school grounds will maximise potential for outdoor learning, encourage sustainability and open up opportunities to support local groups. Features will include an ‘arrival plaza’ with seating and social spaces, an outdoor amphitheatre, a growing space, an outdoor gym and a wellbeing hub garden.

The landscape design creates the opportunity for connections to Trinity Primary, creating a campus with the secondary school helping integrate both schools. The landscape also incorporates cycle storage and electric vehicle charging in both secure and public areas, encouraging active travel and the 20-Minute Neighbourhood.  

Ryan Holmes, Director at Holmes Miller said: “City of Edinburgh Council asked us to create a design that would ensure Trinity Academy’s facilities were fit for the 21st Century and that would provide an inspirational learning environment for pupils.

“Alongside the existing Victorian building, the new extension will do just that, while creating a strong civic presence that is sensitive to the surrounding Victoria Park conservation area. The combination of new extension and refurbishment of the existing building represents a significant investment in the community and promotes inclusive growth through key investment.”   

John Burns, Associate at Holmes Miller added: “Building on the successful completion of Trinity Academy’s Sports Campus last year, these new plans offer a modern, exciting, and energy-efficient facility for pupils, staff and the wider community around Trinity.

“Building on this existing relationship with the school and community through ongoing engagement offers a unique opportunity to create a sense of place and new identity, which is an exciting prospect. All users of the building will benefit greatly from this next phase of redevelopment, which will create a school they can be proud of and will positively engage with.” 

Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “These are really exciting times for the Trinity Academy school community after the opening of their new sports and outdoor learning centre last year. The plans for the new extension, and refurbishment of the original Victorian red sandstone main school building, have been designed following consultation with the staff, pupils and local community. 

“Another key feature of the new extension is the Passivhaus elements which significantly reduce the amount of energy used and support us in our goal of decarbonising our building stock. In August we opened our first fully Passivhaus classroom extension at Sciennes Primary School and construction work has already started on a replacement Currie High School which will be one of the first Passivhaus high schools in the country.

“These new buildings will significantly reduce heating costs, improve user comfort and the learning environment as we set the standard for how we build low carbon schools.”

Design team

Client: City of Edinburgh Council

Project Manager: Atkins Realis

MEP Engineers: Rybka

Structural Engineers: Etive

Landscape Architect: Wardell Armstrong

Passivhaus Advisor: Architype

Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre on track for August opening

Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre

A new sports and outdoor centre next to Trinity Academy in north Edinburgh will open its doors to pupils and the community in August.

Over £10m has been invested by the City of Edinburgh Council in the Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre which is part of a wider project which will see a new Trinity Academy school delivered by 2026.

The development is part of the Council’s ambitious Wave 4 new schools programme which will see a number of schools replaced or refurbished in the city over the next 10 years. The secondary schools are Liberton, Currie, Wester Hailes and Balerno.

As part of this programme the Council is progressing the project to replace and refurbish Trinity Academy in two phases. The first one will see the sports facility opening in August and then phase two will see the start of the design process for the replacement and refurbishment of the school on the main site.

The strategic plan is to keep and refurbish the original red sandstone Victorian building on Craighall Road, demolish all the other buildings and construct new facilities which will adjoin the original building ready for it opening in 2026.

There will be wide consultation with the school and wider community which included the Community Council meeting on Tuesday 13 June. Engagement work is ongoing with school staff and after the summer break there will be more detailed discussions with the school parents and cluster primary school communities.

In line with the Council’s commitment to creating 20-minute neighbourhoods the school will be designed to have wider community access. The next major milestone will be submission of the planning application at the end of the year with construction aiming to start in summer 2023.

Nick Burge, Head Teacher at Trinity Academy, said: “Having visited the site regularly over the last nine months, the new PE and Sport facilities at Bangholm look excellent. I have worked closely with the design team and feel very lucky to have seen the plans become a reality.

“We have a very healthy PE curriculum as well as our extensive after school competitive and recreational sports programme. The new facilities including the strength and condition suites, dance studio, gym and games hall, provide a wonderful environment for everyone in our school to access during and after the school day. 

“This is fantastic new horizon for our school and I am very grateful to everyone, particularly the current project team, the PE staff and our parent body who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point.  “

Of course this is only the first of a number of new and exciting horizons ahead of us as a school. The plans for developing the main school site are under way, with these being shared for feedback with the community early in the new academic session.

“I have and will continue to work closely with this new design team as we all work to deliver a school environment that ably delivers both excellence and equity for all of the young people and families we serve at Trinity Academy.”

Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “It’s great to hear that the new sports and outdoor centre will be opening after the summer as it will provide excellent facilities for both the school and wider community.

“This project is part of our exciting Wave 4 replacement school building programme which has already seen a new Castlebrae High School open at Easter. Work has started on a new Currie Community High School and plans are in place for more improvements at Liberton, Wester Hailes and Balerno.

“Despite the effects of the pandemic on the construction industry a number of new schools have opened in the past year, including both primary and special schools.

“We will carry on with our plans that will see more than £500m planned investment over the next decade as we’re committed to creating a first-class learning estate and ensuring all our children have the best possible learning environment in which to flourish.”

The Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre will include a four-court sports hall, gym hall, dance studio and fitness suite, and will become the new home to the school’s PE department. 

The Council’s Sport and Outdoor Learning Unit will also have a base in the centre so they can support outdoor learning in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

Trinity Academy to become a community school: Information Event

The rebuilding of Trinity Academy is the biggest single investment in Trinity for very many years.  It will probably hold that record for many more to come.  Importantly, the plan is to redevelop the Academy as a “community school” – an asset for the whole of the community. 

So what does a “community school” do?  What ought it do?  How can the project team determine the needs of the wider community?  And how can you play a part in doing that?

On 13th June, Trinity Community Council will host Amanda Hatton, CEC Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services, who will answer these questions and more.  Most especially yours. 

Amanda’s portfolio includes education, schools, early years, lifelong learning, libraries and community centres as well as social services for adults and children so she is uniquely well placed to discuss the potentials and the needs.

We would love to have your input.  Join us on Monday 13th June at 7pm in the Church Hall at Inverleith St Serf’s or from the comfort of your sofa via Zoom using this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85358619269.

As the nights draw in …

Heart of Newhaven’s October newsletter

All about project updates …


Our friendship benches are now being decorated!

On October 8th, a group of older and younger people  from the New Spin intergenerational project at the Citadel will decorate the first of our six friendship benches, all of which have been made by Mens Shed.

The New Spin group will be working with local artist Johnathan Elders to create patterns for the backs of the bench. Further benches will be decorated in further sessions, so each will be unique. The project is being run with the help of Thrive, to celebrate World Mental Health Day on 10th October.

Fruit tree planting in Victoria Park

Our Greening Team have been busy with plans for the area and pupils from Trinity High and Trinity Primary Schools will be helping to plant some young fruit trees in Victoria Park this winter to enhance the area, by adding beauty, interest and biodiversity.

There are already a couple of small trees in situ, so those will be added to, to create a mini orchard. The trees will be Scottish heritage fruit trees, specially chosen for the site, and will include apple, pear and plum. 

Each one will have its own protective cage, provided by Edinburgh City Council, and the pupils will learn from a Royal Botanic Gardens representative how best to plant and care for them.

We hope to work on more tree-planting and wilding projects in the future, not just in the parks but in the more built-up parts of our neighbourhood, where urban nature needs some encouragement. 

 Keep abreast of the latest news on our Greening Page

Environment Page


And more on green issues

The Heart of Newhaven Community was assessed by It’s Your Neighbourhood, part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful charity recently, and despite it only being the first year of our association with them, we have scored a Level 3, (out of five) which means we are “advancing”.

The score was helped by having achieved our goal of funding from the Scottish Land Fund to acquire the site, as well as successfully engaging with a variety of local communities and groups. Well done everyone involved. The next level is “thriving” and the top level is “outstanding”. How long will it be?

Forth Reflections

On October 22nd from 2pm – 4 pm we are collaborating with an exhibition in the main entrance to Ocean Terminal called ‘Forth Reflections and Expressions of Wellbeing’. The event is being organised in conjunction with the Edinburgh Wellbeing PACT and the Forth/Edinburgh Shoreline Project.

Conceived during the dark days of winter lockdown this project is the passionate responses of well over a hundred different people to a part of the Forth coast that is special to them.

A long storyline of enmeshed crafted memories and visions of the Forth has emerged, linking the Fife, Edinburgh and East Lothian coasts, biodiversity, people and communities.

Each participant expressed their response to their chosen 1km of coast on a calico square and many people have focused on the coast’s local history and wildlife, its beauty and diversity and the many species and memories that have been and are still being lost. While frustration and anger can be seen in many pieces about marine and intertidal pollution, there is also heartfelt hope for the future.

We hope that as many people as possible will call in and have a chat. Not only will it be an opportunity to talk to us about our plans for the Heart in general but we also want to have conversations about wellbeing and what it means to each of us in our community. As inspiration we will be displaying a selection of the calico squares created by local people.

Call in to see the display and have a chat.

Keep watching our website and social media platforms for the latest news, as we await the move of Victoria Primary School pupils to their new home and the handover of the keys for the site from Edinburgh City Council to the Heart.

Trinity cook’s lamb is back on the menu at Edinburgh schools

Pupils at schools across the City of Edinburgh Council region will be able to enjoy a new lamb based dish from this month as the Scotch red meat makes a welcome return to school canteens.

Owen McLeod, Catering Manager at Trinity Academy, first crafted his Spring Scotch Lamb PGI koftas with a rainbow rice pot for the School Cook of the Year Competition in 2019 and the dish proved so popular it has made its way onto school lunch menus across the capital.

The City of Edinburgh Council already uses Scotch Beef PGI in its red meat dishes and the introduction of Scotch Lamb will for many pupils be the first time they experience the quality and taste of this type of red meat, not least from their school cafeterias.

Campbells Prime Meat at The Heatherfield near Linlithgow is the district’s regular supplier and will be providing the Scotch Lamb which is sourced from trusted Scottish farms that adhere to the highest animal welfare and quality production methods.

Cllr Ian Perry, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We are big believers in education through food and using it as an opportunity for pupils to try new flavours and styles of dishes that take expression from different cultures, so we thank Owen for inspiring our new Scotch Lamb dish for schools.

“We hope this will be the first of many and we look forward to continuing to provide high quality school meals to pupils throughout Edinburgh.”

Iain Brown, Director at Campbells Prime Meat, said: “We enjoy a fantastic working relationship with the catering teams across the City of Edinburgh Council region and are delighted to be expanding our partnership with them so they can offer Scotch Lamb in schools again.

“We take huge pride in only sourcing top quality red meat from local Scottish farms so it’s great to work with a schoolboard that values giving their pupils the best produce available.”

Lesley Cameron, Director of Marketing and Communications at Quality Meat Scotland, the industry body that promotes Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI, added: “It’s vitally important for children and young people to gain exposure to top quality, locally sourced ingredients at every stage of their development.

“Not only can it teach them the importance of supporting Scotland’s butchers and farmers, the way they are used can educate them about different cultures and tastes, as well as the nutritional value of meat in the diet.

“We are thrilled to see these two partners working hard to show Edinburgh school pupils the quality, provenance and depth of flavour found in Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI.”

For more information about Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, visit https://www.scotchkitchen.com/

New sports and outdoor centre for North Edinburgh

Plans for a new sports and outdoor centre in north Edinburgh have been given the green light by councillors.

Plans for the Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre were approved by the Development Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday (28 October).

The building will be located next to Trinity Academy and create a new campus with the sports pavilion being the first phase in a proposed redevelopment of the school’s facilities.

It will include a four-court sports hall, gym hall, dance studio and fitness suite, and will become the new home to the school’s PE department. 

The Council’s Sport and Outdoor Learning Unit will also have a base in the centre so they can support outdoor learning in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. 

Cllr Ian Perry, Education Convener, said: “It’s great news that these plans have been approved today as the school and wider local community are really going to benefit from these purpose-built sport and outdoor centre buildings.

“The new sports venue will boast a four court hall, gym hall, dance studio and fitness suite and although it will primarily be used by Trinity Academy for school PE, wider community groups will also have access to the facilities.”

Cllr Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “This is going to be an excellent new facility for Trinity Academy pupils and the wider community. I look forward to seeing the plans presented to us today being taken forward and built for school children and other community groups to enjoy.

“Providing high quality facilities for health and well-being is a vital part of planning in 21st century Edinburgh.”

Trinity Academy celebrates second Shell Bright Ideas success

A team of Trinity Academy S3 pupils are the Scottish winners of Shell’s Bright Ideas competition, doubling up on last year’s success. The students’ Design and Technology Teacher, Trinity’s STEM Co-ordinator FLORENCE DONALDSON (pictured below (right) with the girls), explains all:

Wow! We have done it again, Shell Bright Ideas Scottish Winners for the second year in a row! What a phenomenal achievement!

In what has been an undoubtedly challenging time for all our students, five S3 girls worked tirelessly with their teacher Florence Donaldson throughout Lockdown to put together their outstanding proposal for Café Earth.

A huge congratulations to our fantastic S3 Design Team: 

Ada Hayden-Joiner 

Ava McKie 

Cara Burnet

Iris Hughes 

Rachel Baxendale 

The Bright Ideas Challenge, which is organised by Shell, invited students to imagine what the world will be like in 30 years’ time, and to put their science, technology, engineering and maths skills to work to put together a proposal that would make the world a better place to live.

By 2050 there will be more than 9 billion people on Earth creating a need for 50% more energy than today. The competition asks pupils from across the UK to imagine innovative solutions to the energy challenges facing cities of the future.

The team researched the problem of sourcing food in a sustainable manner within cities. By using their science, technology, engineering knowledge, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills, they developed an innovative idea to solve the problem.

Their solution was create an eco-friendly café to help make our cities be cleaner and more energy efficient by utilising grants from the government and environmental charities to get started and with help from renewable energy professionals to ensure the energy produced is effective and safe.

Professional farmers, gardeners, chefs and waiting staff will make Café Earth run smoothly.

Most importantly, we will need the community: the community will keep our café running by coming to have a coffee, volunteer on our farm or visit Café Earth on a school trip.

Café Earth will serve the community. It will benefit everyone in the community, including families, teens, students and the elderly. The café will sell healthy affordable options.

The greenery around our café from our farms will provide short-term clean air. The plants will change the carbon dioxide we exhale into fresh oxygen. Our café will not contribute to harmful greenhouse gases. Not using fossil fuels will reduce carbon and make long term clean air.

Café Earth will also help businesses in the area. Products and from local businesses will be sold in the shop and produce we cannot grow ourselves will be bought from nearby farms. Finally, a part of our profits will feed back to community charities.

If you are interested, the full proposal for Café Earth can be found in the News section on Trinity Academy’s website.

The entry was Scotland’s winner, which means we will received £4,000 for our school to really bring our technology lessons to life, along with the pupil’s very own STEM themed prize packs to learn more about science, technology and engineering.

We are all incredibly proud of the girls achievements and we can only hope it inspires other young people to get excited about how designers, scientists, engineers and everyone in the technologies industries can make a difference.

Well done to all involved!

Utopia: Trinity’s Bright Idea rewarded in national competiton

A team of Trinity Academy students has returned from the UK final of the Bright Ideas Challenge with their heads held high – the local team of five S3 students won through to the grand final of the nationwide competition and picked up a prize of a further £1000 for their school. Continue reading Utopia: Trinity’s Bright Idea rewarded in national competiton

Trinity students win Scotland title in national schools science competition

A team of five S3 students from Trinity Academy in Edinburgh has fought off tough competition from hundreds of schools across Great Britain to win the Scotland prize in Shell’s national schools’ competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge. Continue reading Trinity students win Scotland title in national schools science competition