Peebles High School: No date for pupils' return
Scottish Borders Council have announced that temporary teaching for Peebles High School pupils will continue after the Christmas holidays. Classes for displaced pupils were started in Peebles and Galashiels after the fire on the 28th November.
The Council is working towards all pupils returning to the Peebles High School site as soon as possible, with works on site continuing over the Christmas break.
Scottish Borders Council’s Chief Executive, Tracey Logan, said: “Although work has started on the Peebles High School site, there remains a significant amount of progress required before we can safely accommodate pupils back within the high school for full time education.
“This includes repairing and reinstating essential services and putting in place temporary toilets and additional teaching space.
“As a result, we have decided to keep the current temporary arrangements in place after the Christmas break as we work to finalise plans for getting all pupils back in to Peebles High School.
“This an absolute priority for us and a significant number of staff from right across the Council are working towards that aim. Teams will be working throughout the holidays and we will continue to keep pupils, parents and staff updated and confirm post-January arrangements as soon as possible.”
Drop-in curricular and pastoral support will be made available in Peebles High School throughout the exam leave period for S4-S6. There will also be study spaces available at West Linton Primary School and St Ronan’s Primary School in Innerleithen for any students in S4-S6 for the duration of the study leave.
The S1-S3 pupils will still be taught in Peebles, and the S4-S6 year groups will be taught in Galashiels from 6 to 9 January until prelim exam leave starts on Friday 10 January.
It has also been confirmed that that all prelim exams for pupils will take place in Peebles High School’s new games hall complex, which was unaffected by the fire, from Monday 13 January to Friday 31 January. This includes all those exams which were scheduled to take place prior to the Christmas break and which were postponed because of the fire.
As of Friday 10 January transport arrangements will return to normal.
If travel arrangements are affected by bad weather, parents can find information on contingency plans via the Council website, social media channels, Radio Borders and Groupcall.