Monday September 22nd 2025
Eyemouth Primary School
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A £15m schools merger plan in Eyemouth has been revealed.
Consultation is set to be launched over proposals to incorporate Eyemouth Primary School within the town’s high school and then to build a new Early Years and Family Centre facility on the demolished primary school site.
The primary school would have its own separate entrance at the high school at Gunsgreenhill and would retain its existing management structures and arrangements but simply move locations.
“Reconfiguration and extension work” would be carried out at the high school to accommodate the assimilation of the primary school.
The new Early Years and Family Centre would then be built on a site adjacent to the existing primary school on Coldingham Road.
This will provide facilities that support early/nursery education, and children and family social work support and would replace the existing family centre.
The current primary school is deemed not-fit-for purpose in terms of its condition and back in 2019 SBC committed to a new £16m replacement on the same site.
Consultations over the school’s future have since “lapsed” with a report, to be presented to Scottish Borders Council on Thursday, September 25, stating: “Over the summer of 2024, officers took steps to restart the project which had lapsed and continue with pre-consultation engagement.
“This included engagement with ward members and a series of local community briefings.
“The first community briefing explained that the council deeply regretted the time taken to progress the project, acknowledging that this, along with confusion over earlier options considered, undermined confidence and trust that the Eyemouth and East Berwickshire community have in Scottish Borders Council.”
The report adds: “Should the proposal to relocate Eyemouth Primary School to the high school site be progressed, the new relocated primary school will retain the existing management structure and organisation of the current primary school, and the high school will retain the existing management structures and organisation in place also.
“Officers understand that Eyemouth Primary School has 40 staff members and this includes administration, teachers, pupil support assistants, kitchen staff, janitorial service and SLT.
“Eyemouth High School has 80 members of staff altogether. While there may be some duplication in some roles when the primary and high schools are combined, staff will have increased opportunities for collaborative work within a larger staff pool of colleagues with different strengths, skills and experience.
“The curriculum will be structured to allow cross collaboration between subjects and skill sets. The increased number of staff at the campus will also allow more support and flexibility to staff with more cover available.
“The total cost of the two projects is £15m. This will be funded by the remaining balance allocated in Scottish Borders Council’s Capital Investment Programme along with £1m funding from Scottish Government Early Years Funding which needs to be committed by end of March 2027.”
There is also currently a Scottish Borders Council Contact Centre located within the associated accommodation at the current primary school site on Coldingham Road.
That will require to be relocated when the school is demolished, and options will be considered for the future delivery of services which are currently provided from the contact centre.
The proposed date for the opening of the relocated primary school is currently August 2028.
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