The anticipated date for financial close is getting nearer.  If all is well, this is when Moray Council and the other parties to the development will be able to sign formal agreements.  Meanwhile, rumours have been heard that the old garages at the back of the school could be demolished within a couple of weeks.  This will be a very clear sign of progress that will allow site preparation for the new PE block.

One morning this week the office staff started to get excited as they spotted vans on the site of the new build.  Sadly these were not from Balfour Beatty, but from Moray Council.  The running pitch was being marked out on the grass.  With the delay to the start of the construction work, to the delight of the PE staff, we are hoping to squeeze in another sports day early in June.

However, there have been a couple of interesting meetings.  The first was the Parent Council on Wednesday evening.  The presentation on possible rezoning for the Elgin Primary Schools helped to re-emphasise the need for the larger building for EHS than had first been thought.  The schools in Elgin South will be very close to capacity next session.  In a few years these pupils will be in secondary bringing the EHS roll to over 800 pupils – quite a change from the current 570.

On Friday, there was a meeting with Moray Council, Greenwards Primary and Balfour Beatty about the work extending Edgar Road to allow access to the new school building from the north.  This will be particularly important for construction work.  Planning for this is now well under way and hopefully before the end of this month work may be started.

On Tuesday morning the winners of the S.3 Youth Philanthropy Initiative project (sponsored by the Wood Foundation) were sitting in the HT office waiting for the arrival of the Northern Scot reporter.  One of the girls turned to the local councillor, who had been a judge for the competition, and innocently asked “When will the building work be starting?”  Neither the councillor nor I could give a straight answer.  However, it was good to see the excitement and sense of anticipation as the pupils started talking about their hopes.

On Thursday there was a meeting between school and Balfour Beatty staff.  The topic was again educational projects that can take place during the construction period.  This is not the first time we have talked about this.  However, there was a sense that these issues needed to be discussed with greater urgency since they might soon be real.  Lying on the table were some designs by Art students that might be included on the hoardings around the site.  These certainly added to the reality.  Hopefully, it will not be long before I can go back to the pupils, parents and staff with a definite answer to the innocent question.

The school has now been back for a week.  Although there continue to be numerous activities going on in the background, there is little new to report.  Some of the meetings have focussed on issues such as the number of data points in each teaching area.  Moray ICT have also installed four different makes of touch screen boards in the current school.  These will allow us to trial them and choose the best for the new build.  This is an exciting development as it will do away with the need for digital projectors.

We are still working towards financial close in May and construction work beginning in June with December 2016/January 2017 as the target entry date.  On Thursday I had the pleasure of spending time with the Greenwards P7 pupils during their residential at Dalguise.  It was great to see their enthusiasm about the new build and to be able to answer their numerous questions.  On the original timescale when funding was announced, the plan was for the new building to be complete this month.  They were scheduled to be the first S.1 group whose only experience would be the new build.  Hopefully we will have good news for them soon and get them involved with the turf cutting!

Another busy term has reached its conclusion.  The sun was shining and we had hoped that this would be the day for the turf cutting ceremony.  However, it was not to be…  Meanwhile a very long meeting for EHS, Moray Council and Balfour Beatty staff brought continued good progress on reviewing the room layouts and getting final agreement on what should be included in the building.

On Wednesday, The Moray Council agreed to consult on rezoning for the primary schools in Elgin.  The vast increase in numbers of pupils in the Primary Schools has reinforced the need for the new Elgin High School building to have a capacity for 800+.

The distraction of a school trip to the rugby at Murrayfield is the excuse for the lack of a new post last weekend.  On reflection, writing a paragraph for the blog might have been a better use of the time.  Maybe next season will bring better fortunes!

There is no new news on the start of construction work.  Behind the scenes there is a lot of working going on to finalise the financial arrangements and good progress seems to be happening.  However, there are still some planning issues to be resolved.  Hopefully these can be quickly overcome so that we can meet the new target date  for getting on site in May.

This week saw the arrival of the first skip.  The aim is to empty the garages before they are demolished to make way for the new PE block.  At the moment they are filled with an amazingly varied collection of bits and pieces that have been stored over the years “in case we need them again”.  There are even some items of furniture salvaged from the old Elgin Academy building before it was demolished.  This will be the first of many skips that will be filled in the coming months.

We continue to work towards May as the time for the cutting of the first turf.  There have been more meetings about room data sheets and room layout designs.  We are making progress!

The headlines in this week’s Northern Scot were not encouraging.  On Wednesday the Moray Council received a report outlining the delays and the reasons.  However, we are still working hard towards starting on site in May.  There have been more meetings about room data sheets – trying to finalise exactly what will be in each teaching area.  The trees beside the garages were felled last weekend.  The planting barrels and benches were saved so that they can be used again.  The wood is being stored with the aim of using it as some sort of feature in the new build.  At Greenwards there is work taking place on the gas mains.  This involves splitting the supply so that EHS and Greenwards can continue as normal while the new build is being constructed.  We even went ahead with the final staff v. pupils football match in anticipation of losing the pitches.  The score is not to be mentioned, but the event raised a good sum for Red Nose Day and the Anthony Nolan cancer charity.  Well done to the pupils!

Meanwhile, life continues as normal at EHS.  The Northern Scot also had good coverage of the football match along with information about EHS pupils taking part in the Elgin city centre charrette, Career Academies and the foam party.  While the delays are frustrating, the ongoing work with the current pupils is exciting as well as being the main focus.

Take a good look at the view above.  This picture was taken at lunchtime today from the Art department window.  In 24 hours time the scene will have changed.  The trees and hedges are due to be cut down… this is the site of the new PE block.  Although there is a delay in the start of construction work, it is important that this part of the preparation work is completed soon before the birds start nesting.  Over the next two years, we will include regular photos of the same view as a record of the progress.  The wood from the trees is to be stored safely so that it can be seasoned.  The plan is to use the timber for a project within the new build.  Details have still to be decided, but it will provide a link between the “old and the new”.

A skip is also on order so that the garages can be emptied before they are demolished.

The report to Thursday’s Steering Group confirmed the delayed starting date.  A number of financial issues have to be resolved before deals can be signed.  However, it is encouraging to learn of the work that is happening to overcome the problems.  At the moment we are targeting a start date of mid/late May.

After the encouragement of last week when the project went through the planning process, this week has ended with a disappointment.  If everything had gone to plan we  hoped that the enabling work to prepare the site could have started in March.  A decision today means that this has had to be delayed.  The reasons are complex and centre on the cost and financing of the project.  However, the planning continues with discussions on topics such as the room layouts and computer cabling.  We are now looking at a date in mid/late May for work to start.  This will have a knock on impact on the date of entry.  More details to follow!