New school establishes roots in the community

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Tree planting ceremony at the new St Benedict’s High School, Linwood

The new £17.5 million St Benedict’s High School in Linwood officially planted its roots in the community as Bishop PhilipTartaglia of Paisley led a special tree planting ceremony. The new Roman Catholic school is part of the £110m Public Private Partnership (PPP) investment programme to improve the quality of Renfrewshire’s schools.

The new school, which replaces St Brendan’s HS and St Cuthbert’s HS, has been designed to include some of the most up-to-date equipment available in education, including state of the art IT equipment, IT facilities in every teaching room, modern lathes, forges and other equipment in the technical department, updated facilities in music and a stage with the latest lighting and sound equipment.

John Rooney, Director of Education and Leisure at Renfrewshire Council, said: “This is a historic day for the people of Johnstone and Linwood. St Benedict’s High School has been designed to cope with the demands of modern learning, enabling us to provide the best educational start in life for the young people of Renfrewshire. We have received excellent support from the local community and there has been a real sense of unity among the staff and pupils of St Brendan's High and St Cuthbert’s High as they look forward to moving into their new school.”

St Benedict’s High School is just one part of the Council’s major investment in new schools, which will see three other new secondary schools, six new primaries, two new community nurseries, and a new community learning centre being built through the PPP programme. There will also be significant refurbishment of up to 24 schools and nurseries as part of the Council's overall £263m investment in new and refurbished schools.

Councillor Roy Glen, the Council’s Education spokesperson, added: “This tree ceremony marks an exciting time for the people of Renfrewshire. We are planting the seeds for the future by building schools like St Benedict’s High School, which are fit for education in the 21st century. With over £263 million committed over the next decade towards refurbishing or building new schools, this is one of the biggest investments the area has ever seen. As well as enhancing education provision and improving facilities for up to 18,000 children, the programme will have a positive long-term impact in terms of economic and social regeneration.”

St Benedict’s High School will officially open its doors to pupils for the first time after the summer break on Friday 25 August 2006.

Press Release: Thursday 6 July 2006