Topping out ceremony for new £32.5m Bertha Park School in Perth

Scotland’s first brand new school in more than 20 years has celebrated a significant milestone. A topping out ceremony was held for the under-construction school at Bertha Park, located on the northern outskirts of Perth. The £32.5m project is being led by hub East Central Scotland on behalf of Perth & Kinross Council with Robertson serving as main contractor. Construction began in November 2017 with the project due for completion next summer ahead of the 2019/20 school term. Built to cater for Perth’s growing population in its new Bertha Park residential development, the school will eventually accommodate around 1100 pupils, with 200 S1 and S2 pupils set to enrol from August 2019. Part of the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future programme, it is unique as it is an entirely new school and not a replacement of an existing one. Derek Shewan, chief executive, Robertson, said: “The construction programme at the new school is progressing well and we were delighted to welcome key stakeholders to the site for the official topping out of the building. “We have extensive experience in building new schools, not only across Tayside but throughout Scotland and I have no doubt this will be among the finest in the country. Ahead of the opening next summer, we’ll be continuing to engage with the local community – including some of the young people who will soon be attending the school.” In addition to serving as contractor, Robertson’s civil engineering and capital projects team have also been heavily involved in the project. Facilities at the new school will be among the best in the country, with a sports hall, gym, full size grass and synthetic football pitches and an attached multi-use games area. Gary Bushnell, chief executive, hub East Central Scotland, said: “It is impressive to see the new school building rising from the ground as work continues to progress towards completion and arrival of pupils and staff next summer. “Bertha Park is the first brand new school to be created in Scotland for many years and will be the sixth new school that we have delivered for Perth & Kinross Council, creating another high quality purpose built learning environment in the local community.” Council Leader, Councillor Murray Lyle, commented: “A key focus for the Council is on improving the learning and teaching environment for pupils and staff in our schools and Bertha Park High School is a significant element of that. We are creating a completely new school community here and a tremendous amount of work has already gone into planning for the school ‘going live’ from next August.” Karen Reid, Chief Executive of Perth & Kinross Council, said: “This is an exciting time for Perth and Kinross and for our young people both now and into the future with such high quality learning and teaching facilities at the brand new Bertha Park High School. I am delighted that this major project for our school estate has now reached a crucial stage in its development.”