Next steps revealed for biggest-ever investment in Renfrewshire schools

Councillors will consider possible sites for new Trinity and Johnstone High Schools and a new-build primary school in Johnstone as part of a redesign of education in the town.

Renfrewshire Council is transforming the area’s schools for future generations of pupils through its ambitious Learning Estate Strategy, for which councillors last year agreed to make available an initial £170m, marking the biggest-ever investment in local schools.

After a detailed assessment of the current estate, councillors last year agreed the initial priority projects would be Trinity and Johnstone High Schools, and a redesign of the Johnstone primary estate, with a series of high-level options for each set out last October.

And councillors will next week consider proposals for the next stages of that – with a shortlist of possible options for each project, on which affected school communities will be able to have their say over the next few months. They are:

Trinity High School – the current Trinity site is too small for the school to be rebuilt there. Three possible sites for a new school within the catchment have been identified:

East Craigend in Erskine (land to the west of the A726 road);

Barwood in Erskine (land at the north-west of town);

King George V Playing Fields in Renfrew. As there is very limited available land in Renfrew, the impact on nearby Renfrew High was considered. It has been established KGV could offer a range of options, including a joint campus, should it need to, and these will be investigated further.

Johnstone Primaries – the proposed redesign would address the current overprovision of school spaces in the town, by reducing the number of schools, making better use of spare capacity in existing high-quality buildings, and ensuring all pupils have the same access to learning in modern facilities. It would see:

Cochrane Castle and Fordbank merged in the existing Fordbank building;

St David’s and St Margeret’s merged in the West Johnstone Joint Campus building;

Auchenlodment and Thorn merged in a new-build school on one of three locations – either on one of the existing school sites, or on open land at Poplar Avenue;

No changes to St Anthony’s Primary.

These are just proposals at this stage, and the next steps will see engagement with affected communities over the coming months. Any changes to locations or catchments would be subject to further formal consultation at a later date.

Johnstone High School – there remains three possible options for investment which will each be developed further:

retrofit the existing building;

build a new school on the existing site;

build a new school on a new site – the Beith Road Playing Fields (at the south-west edge of the town).

The proposals will be considered by members of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board when it meets on Thursday 12 March.

If agreed, the next steps will see engagement with school communities in all three areas to capture their views on the proposals before any decision on a single preferred option is made next year.

Councillor Emma Rodden, the council’s education convener, said: “We are proud to be making the biggest-ever investment in Renfrewshire’s schools which will transform our learning estate for future generations of pupils, staff and wider communities.

“For the past year we have been working through a transparent process to look at all options for each priority project, and find the right one for each community.

“Key to that is making sure we capture views from the public each step of the way before any decisions are made – and if the proposed options are agreed, we’ll be having those conversations over the new few months.

“Changes are needed to tackle the overprovision in the Johnstone primary schools and make the best use of the modern buildings we already have. The proposals put forward today would mean fairness of access across the town, with every pupil in Johnstone learning in a high-quality facility fit for the 21st century.

“And it is exciting to be moving forward with major investment in our secondary schools at Johnstone and Trinity – we look forward to working with both communities to find the best way ahead.”

Each project is being developed through a detailed business-case process, designed to consider all options and establish the best way ahead for each community, and the best value for public money.

Outline Business Cases have now been published for each project setting out the detail behind all options considered so far – including those ruled out, and why.

If approved next week, officers will develop Full Business Cases for each option, with a more detailed look at issues such as ground conditions and transport implications.

It is expected those will be complete by early 2027, at which point, councillors will be asked to agree a single preferred option for each project. If approved, there would then be a formal consultation later in 2027.

If any Johnstone primary school mergers are agreed, these wouldn’t happen before 2028, and any new primary or secondary school is unlikely to be built until after 2030.