WORK has begun on West Dunbartonshire’s first co-located primary school campus in Dumbarton.

The campus will see Aitkenbar and St Peter’s Primary School co-located along with a new Early Education and Childcare Centre (EECC) to replace the existing Andrew B Cameron and St Peter’s centres.

The building is being constructed on the site of the grounds of St Peter’s Primary School, in Bellsmyre, and will welcome its first pupils in August 2016.

It is the first time West Dunbartonshire Council will have hosted a denominational and non-denominational school within the same grounds.

Although the schools will continue to be run separately, they will share facilities including the dining room, assembly hall, gym, and playground.

Leven councillor Michelle McGinty, convener of educational services, said: “It’s fantastic to see work starting on this new building which will provide first-class educational facilities for the children of Bellsmyre.

“We are investing in a number of school projects right across West Dunbartonshire which will create facilities to support our teaching staff to deliver a first-class education to our children and young people.” Pupils and staff from St Peter’s Primary and children from St Peter’s Early Learning and Childcare Centre have moved into temporary accommodation on the Aitkenbar campus to allow the works to go ahead.

Councillor John Mooney, depute convener of Educational Services, added: “This co-located school is a vision which parents at both Aitkenbar and St Peter’s have held for a number of years and I know they will be delighted to see work starting on site.

“I’m sure like me, the whole community will enjoy seeing the new school building take shape over the coming months.” The school plans have come under criticism in the past from Aitkenbar Primary Parent Council. In a letter sent to the Reporter, the parent council hit out at plans for separate public entrances, pupil entrances, and staff rooms for Aitkenbar and St Peter’s primaries.

In relation to ‘multiple public entrances’ the parent council said: “In our opinion this proposal, would be of no educational benefit to the children of either school and would encourage segregation, rather than integration, between the pupils in shared space areas.” However, spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council reiterated the authority’s position, previously saying the guidelines are set out by the church have to be adhered to.

She added: “The Catholic Church’s protocol on shared campuses requires certain facilities, including entrances and staffrooms, to be provided separately to emphasise the fact that there are two distinct schools sharing the same campus.

“St Peter’s and Aitkenbar primaries work very closely together and the shared campus will enable this strong relationship to grow.” On February 6, 2013, it was reported the council approved a 10-year capital plan which included £9.311m for this project – this would be made up of £0.6m from the Scottish Government’s fund the Scottish Futures Trust, and £8.711m from the council’s capital programme.

On May 15, 2013, the council approved the construction of the new buildings and campus.

The former St Peter’s Primary School, Howatshaws Road, has already been demolished to make way for the new building which is being delivered by hub West Scotland, the council’s development partner.

The main contractor for the project is Morgan Sindall.