NEW eco-friendly Glasgow school leads revolution

IT is not the football pitches, the wind turbine or the vegetable garden that is the most amazing sight at a new Glasgow school. It is smiling children rushing to get back into the building at the end of playtime.

The £7million Merrylee Primary School, Newlands, is the model for how schools could be; an eco-friendly, hi-tech venture that has grabbed the imagination of pupils, teachers and parents.

Nearly two years in the making, it will benefit a new generation of Merrylee youngsters and the area.

It has been built on the site of the old SportScotland grounds on Friarton Road and the pupils love their new surroundings.

"The reaction has been brilliant," says head teacher Liz Mahindru. "It is a world away from the old school along the road.

"The reaction from the children and the whole community has been fantastic. It is a place everyone is proud of and a facility I never imagined would be available.

"On paper it looked incredible, but the reality is even more amazing."

The new school is the first to benefit from council policy to make sure all of its new developments are as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible.

It means 10% of the building is made from recycled materials, with walls insulated with recycled newspapers and floodlights powered by wind turbines.

And to make sure the 260 pupils understand what is going on, some of the walls are built from glass so they can see the recycled skeleton underneath.

Every classroom is soundproofed and has hi-tech equipment. As well as a whiteboard, there are now smart boards' - digital boards fixed to PCs that can beam information to a whole class.

The two-storey building has a lift and bathroom signs have braille printed on them to help blind and disabled pupils.

This is a school where around every corner lies something to explore.

Just now, next to the Scottish Football Association approved football pitch, is a pile of mud. It looks like the remnants of a building site, but it will become a school first' in Scotland ... an eco-urban jungle.

Designed in consultation with a landscape gardening team and pupils in the school's environmental committee, the new space will feature chutes, swing bridges, tunnels, a maze made from willow trees and a mixture of cherry trees and lime trees.

There is also a hedge aimed at attracting different species of birds and small animals.

It should be ready for the new term in August.

Ms Mahindru adds: "The Forestry Commission is meeting some of the costs for this.

"It is the first of its kind at a school, so we are really proud of it.

"What has been nice is the collaborative approach.

The pupils have been involved and the design has come from a pupil's parent, Felicity Steers, who is a landscape gardener."

The family involvement is typical of what has happened here.

During last week's move, parents helped transport equipment, while others planted trees to make sure the place looked inviting for their children's first day.

Others have dug deep into their pockets. Some of the cost of the adventure playground, which will cost nearly £80,000, was met by fundraising.

The huge plasma television screen at the front entrance, which shows photos of the pupils getting involved in experiments and in the classroom, was donated by a local shopkeeper.

The Merrylee Allotment Association has also given part of its allotment, which sits next to the school, to the children. They now grow their own vegetables.

"The ethos is to make this a school that involves the whole community," says Ms Mahindru.

"That is part of the thinking with some of the school's facilities. We have conference rooms that local community groups can use, and the football pitch can be used by local children and other football teams. The school has adult changing facilities with showers so other teams can use it."

Another aspect of the school's move is the physical change.

The new location also brings together the community's Catholic and multi-denominational schools, which now sit within yards of one another.

It is not intentional, but some locals hope it will help to improve interaction between pupils at both schools.

But for now the youngsters are focused only on Merrylee Primary.

P7 pupil Morgan Wood says: "The football pitch is magic. It is like stepping out on to a real football stadium."

For Stewart Neil, 11, the whole construction and everything that is going on is of interest.

"We already have an eco committee in the school and we all got the chance to say what we would like to see in the school.

"It is really interesting to see it all now that it is real."

The delight at the new Merrylee contrasts with the strain the rest of Glasgow's education departments and schools are under at this present time.

Glasgow City Council announced in January it wants to close 25 primary and nursery schools in an attempt to make savings of almost £4million a year.

Council bosses point to falling rolls and the fact many of the city's schools are ageing, a picture in stark contrast with what is happening in Merrylee.

Ms Mahindru adds: "I do not know if it is a blueprint for how the rest of the schools in Glasgow will become, but I think you can see from the reactions of the pupils and teachers here that this has inspired everyone, which can only aid learning."

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It's taken six years and £7m

THE suggestions for a new Merrylee Primary were first made by Glasgow councillors and developers in 2003.

Original estimates in 2006 for its construction said it would cost £6.5million.

Work began in July 2007, with the target completion date being August 2008.

Pupils finally sat at their desks in the new school on Monday, more than six months late and with an final cost of around £7million.

There were a number of contributory factors for the delays, including a high-voltage power cable being found under the football pitch, bad weather, changes to the fire sprinkler system and the need to re-tender a construction contract after a subcontractor went bust.

Work on the school's "eco jungle" will continue until May.