Date set for pupils to return to Peebles High School
Scottish Borders Council have announced teaching at Peebles High School school will resume at the start of February.
Following a blaze in the building, the school has been closed since the end of November. Lessons have been taking place at temporary accommodation across the town.
There are currently plans for S4-S6 to return on Monday 3 February, and S1-S3 pupils on Tuesday 4 February.
The pupils' return is staggered to make sure that teaching resumes as safely as possible.
All of the locations being used for temporary teaching, with the exception of the Drill Hall which will be retained as a back-up venue, will be returned to community use from 31 January.
Chief Executive of Scottish Borders Council, Tracey Logan said: “We have continued to work right up to Christmas and in the days since to put plans in place to have all pupils back at Peebles High School as soon as possible. This includes the provision of temporary classrooms in the High School’s grounds and preparations for these are well underway.
“Although work continues, we are now fairly confident that, all going well, all pupils will be able to return to Peebles High School over the two days of 3rd and 4th February. This still depends on a number of factors but with the help and support of a huge range of staff and partners, we are very optimistic that we can achieve this.
“We would like to give parents and carers as much notice as possible; this includes the decision to ask S1-S3 pupils to work from home on Monday 3 February. The logistics of moving from the temporary sites and preparing the new arrangements are hugely challenging and the safety and well-being of pupils is our priority. As such, the operation to move from the temporary sites from Friday lunchtime over the weekend and into Monday needs to be carefully planned and managed.
“I am delighted that we are in such a positive position so quickly given the scale of the challenge. We will continue to work on the details around these plans and will keep pupils, parents and staff updated as we make more progress.”
Some areas of the site will remain out of bounds due to fire damage or recovery work on site, however pupils will have lessons in unaffected areas of the main building. Additional temporary classroom space will be put in place and new timetables created.
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