17 November 2017

Aberdeenshire Provost officially opens Turriff Primary School

A ceremonial plaque was unveiled by the Provost of Aberdeenshire to mark the official opening of the new multimillion pound Turriff Primary School today (Friday, November 17).

Deputy Head Teacher Laura MacKay welcomed guests and there were speeches from Cllr Gillian Owen, Aberdeenshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee chair; the Provost of Aberdeenshire, Cllr Bill Howatson; and Maria Walker, the council’s Director of Education and Children’s Services.

Guests were also entertained by Primary 5 pupils singing French songs Frère Jacques and Père Noël; a Primary 5 pupil playing traditional Scottish songs on the bagpipes; and four Highland Dancers, also Primary 5, performing a medley from well-known Scottish pipe band Red Hot Chilli Pipers which included Wake Me Up and Everybody Dance Now. Primary 1 pupils read Scottish poems. After the formal ceremony was complete, those in attendance went on tours of the new school. Refreshments were also available at the end of the event on Friday, November 17.

Cllr Gillian Owen said: “I am delighted Turriff Primary School is now officially open. It will be a fantastic resource for the local community. The state-of-the-art purpose built classrooms, breakout rooms, play areas and facilities will encourage children to strive to be the best they can possibly be. Staff will enjoy the surroundings too and I am certain working in this new and modern school fit for the 21st century will inspire and motivate them to perform as well as they can.”

The £12million Turriff Primary school will accommodate 505 pupils in 18 classrooms and has capacity for 96 children at any one time in the new nursery. PE and sporting activities will take place on the modern all-weather pitch and grass pitches.

Cllr Mark Findlater, Committee vice chair, said: “I would like to thank all the folk that were involved in the building and the planning of this fantastic new school. Working together in partnership is really vital with any project and I am really chuffed that Aberdeenshire Council has worked so well with its partners to build this brand new brilliant school that will be here for generations and our bairns will use for many years in the future. The building has been cleverly designed so that if there are suddenly more bairns born in Turriff then the capacity can be increased by another bit being added on to the building. I am really chuffed to see the Turra Coo depicted in the foyer.”

Aberdeenshire Council runs 152 primary schools, 85 of which have a nursery unit. These primary schools serve over 20,000 pupils.