WATCH: Turf cut at Bertha Park High School
The £19.6 million pound facility is due to open in 2019
Last updated 30th Nov 2017
A milestone has been reached at the site of a brand new 3,000-home village being built on the outskirts of Perth.
Deputy First Minister, John Swinney did the honours at a turf cutting ceremony at Bertha Park's new high school, which is the first thing being built there.
Work is well underway on the building, which is the 100th new school in the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future Programme.
The programme, launched in 2009, will see the construction and refurbishment of 116 schools by March 2020, benefitting over 60,000 pupils.
The new Bertha Park High School is scheduled to open in summer 2019, and will contain community sports facilities and create around 200 jobs over the construction period- including 17 apprenticeships.
At the ceremony today, Mr. Swinney said: "We are committed to ensuring our young people and teachers can thrive in modern, state of the art school buildings and our record on improving the education estate speaks for itself.
"We have made fantastic progress and have wonderful, award-winning schools across parts of the art school buildings and our record on improving the education estate speaks for itself.
"I have seen the real difference these buildings can make to the lives of young pupils, teachers and parents, as well as the wider communities they serve, and we will continue our efforts to improve the condition of our entire learning estate, from early years through to schools and colleges".
Leader of Perth and Kinross Council Ian Campbell said: "This is the first new newly commissioned and created school in Scotland for decades, and it is great this is opening in Perth and Kinross.
"Bertha Park is probably going to be bigger than Blairgowrie and Crieff combined over the next twenty years.
"It is a massive increase in terms of the population at Perth, and the school is obviously going to be at the heart of it".
He also added that construction of the school is happening at a rapid pace, and said: "Not many weeks ago, it was just a bit of bare ground, but now, it almost looks half finished- there's still lots to do, right enough".