Celtic and Scotland footballer Scott Brown officially opened the new sports hall at Cramond Primary School yesterday. Scott cut the ribbon of the new £1m building with Head Teacher Helen Donaldson and the school’s eight Primary 7 house captains.
Cramond was one of four primary schools across the Capital, along with East Craigs, Towerbank and Sciennes, to get new sports hall or dining room extensions to meet requirements to provide free school meals for all P1 to P3s.
Previously the old school hall had doubled up as a dining room and was used for other school activities which limited the time for sport and PE activities.
Head Teacher Helen Donaldson said the new sports hall has invigorated the whole school community since opening three weeks ago.
She said: “Pupils, staff and parents have been blown away by the quality of the new sports hall and it’s already having a positive impact on pupil health and wellbeing. There’s a real sense of excitement around the school as we now have a purpose built sports hall for everyone to use.
“The new facilities mean we have an onsite breakfast and after school club in the dining hall (previously our only gym hall) and each morning before school and every day after school we also have a wide range of sporting clubs run by Active Schools, Cramond staff and parent volunteers. In the evenings we will be having community lets – there really is something for everyone.
“It’s not just the sporting aspect of the new building. We can hold events for the whole school comfortably without impacting on PE– for example weekly assemblies, fundraising events, discos, performance to parents, dancing, drumming and singing. The school staff and pupils are so grateful to our neighbours who were so supportive and understanding during the necessary upheaval during the building process.
“We had a great partnership with our construction team – the pupils loved learning about and recording every stage of the build from laying foundations to final fit. We are over the moon, this new sports hall has quite literally transformed our school.”
Councillor Cammy Day, Convener for Education, Children and Families, said: “It’s great that staff and parents at Cramond Primary School are thrilled to see the new sports hall up and running and being used by so many pupils and the local community.
“The Capital Coalition is determined that our young people receive a first class education in all aspects of the curriculum and this fantastic sports hall fits in perfectly with that ambition.
“The school is now better able to deliver more PE for the pupils, a full range of sporting activities are being offered by our Active Schools team and performance arts such as dancing and music now have a new home.”
The new sports hall was delivered by the Council’s development partner, Hub South East Scotland, with Morrison Construction appointed as the main contractor.
Roddy Clark, Development Manager for Hub South East Scotland, said: “We are delighted to help celebrate the completion of the new sports hall at Cramond Primary and see how much staff and pupils are enjoying their new facilities.
“This is one of a seven educational facilities successfully delivered by Hub South East for the City of Edinburgh Council since August, ensuring appropriate accommodation for sports activities and the roll out of free school meals, as well as assisting with the issue of rising school rolls. We look forward to continuing our positive working relationship with the Council on future projects.”
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