Currie Community High School Phase 1 complete!
The first phase of new Currie Community High School completed in August 2025 and the new school opened for the community on Thursday 14th August. The new Currie CHS is one of the projects in the first phase of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme.
The new school building has been designed in line with the guiding principles of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Strategy
The school has been designed and built to Passivhaus standards which provides comfort but uses little energy for heating and cooling and is one of the first Passivhaus secondary schools in Scotland.
The new Currie Community High School provides an inviting and welcoming place where all users are greeted as they enter the building. There are shared community spaces that are easily accessed from the main foyer throughout the day and spaces that are made available out of school hours or for hire.
The school includes a four-court sports hall, a gym hall, a fitness Suite, a dance studio, a Passivhaus four lane swimming pool and a 3G pitch. There is a library and café alongside the fitness suite and pool which will be accessible for the community during the day (the café will fully open at a later date). A wellness centre has been introduced by the school which can be let for activities such as yoga, parent and baby/toddler groups and community meetings. A meeting room in the foyer can be booked as well, but the open nature of the foyer with the café lends itself to more informal, non-booked spaces for people to meet.
Learning Zones
The school’s ambition is for the curricular areas within each learning zone to maximise the opportunities for thematic learning. Creating learning zones rather than labelling areas for a specific subject will enhance the collegiate feeling between the curricular areas. Visual links between learning spaces that are open to each other through use of breakout and shared space promotes the coming together of different subject classes in the same space.
The school’s learning zones are Expressive Arts, STEM, Languages and Humanities, Health and Wellbeing and Integrated Support.
Cross Curricular Learning
The school has two large open plan learning plazas that are easily accessed by classrooms on all three floors. This allows classes to come together and work collaboratively on a project.
The STEM zone benefits from a learning plaza which creates a flexible space for STEM curricular areas to work together on projects. It enhances the learning spaces for teachers and learners to explore and create through project based thematic and cross curricular/interdisciplinary learning. The STEM learning plaza acts as a vertical visual link between the STEM curricular areas and ties the STEM learning zone together. Visual links between the floors created by void space and interior design /wayfinding enhances the collegiate feeling of this learning zone.
For the STEM plaza brief we took inspiration from “hackerspaces”: A flexible workspace designed for people who are interested in making something together and pulling on their different skills.
For example, the following curricular areas can come together to work on a project such as creating a computer game: Maths, Physics, Computing Science, Graphics/Design tech, Business, (Art and English could also be involved) the large collaborative space will allow teachers to bring these groups together in one area and will enhance the school’s collegiate approach to teaching and learning.
Storage for equipment within this flexible project space allows staff to temporarily store project resources when using the plaza regularly for a project.
Glazing from the classroom into the breakout/plaza creates an open and vibrant learning environment and a sense of collaborative 360 degree learning.
This space also benefits paired/team teaching, independent learning and can be a student and staff social or meeting space. With this in mind, the links between staff workspaces and plazas will allow staff to easily move between the spaces and enhance their thematic approach to teaching in a shared project workspace.
The Languages and Humanities zone also has a learning plaza which features a debating chamber, this exciting addition was introduced into the design through consultation with the staff and students and was inspired by the debating chamber at Queensferry High School.
Breakout
Internal learning spaces are enhanced by the addition of breakout areas throughout the school building. These small areas, furnished with a variety of chairs, stools, tables and booths create informal independent or collaborative working and social spaces. They allow students and teachers the freedom to breakout of the classroom and work in a way that suits their learning style.
Inclusion
The new school and community building has been designed with inclusion of all it’s users in mind. Woodlands school has a very good relationship with Currie High School and the new building offers a variety of spaces that will enhance the students’ experience.
Along with classrooms in the Integrated Support Zone, there is a sensory room and nurture room. Breakout and retreat spaces support the classrooms and enhance opportunities for collaborative or independent learning or space for quiet reflection. Breakout and retreat spaces are included throughout the school building to offer students a choice on where they want to work, socialise or to be alone.
A private garden that is accessible from two of the classrooms creates another stimulating and peaceful space to learn in and enjoy.
How will the new school benefit the community?
Following the Scottish Government’s guiding principles for our school buildings we have delivered a building and grounds that serve more than just the school but are an investment in the whole community. Our consultation with community members told us that Currie would like a welcoming intergenerational space to meet, socialise and access digital services. In response to this we have delivered a building that has a welcoming atrium which is open to the community. Within the community atrium will be a library, a café, a meeting room and access to the sports facilities. How these will operate, along with opening times, will be set out in future communications.
As with all our school buildings CEC hope the community would like to make use of the available spaces in the building through our school lets. The new Currie Community High School also features a skills space which is a large open room that can be used for events and activities. There is also a wellness centre which is a smaller flexible space that could be let for meetings or smaller activities.
The sports facilities at the new school will be managed by Edinburgh Leisure.
The school grounds will also be a shared community and school space and we hope that the community will take advantage of the exciting outdoor spaces we are proposing. In particular there is a large space in the north east of the site proposed to be kept aside for a community group(s) to use and develop for food growing and horticulture. Any interested parties please contact futureschools@edinburgh.gov.uk
Outdoor Learning
The new Currie Community High School has being designed to promote excellence in outdoor learning. With that in mind we have introduced outdoor breakout areas from each of the learning zones for students and teachers to gain easy access to an outdoor space during their lessons.
We are also providing spaces to explore and build the use of green technology and sustainable living.
To allow outdoor access to the students on the top floor of the school, an outdoor learning terrace has been designed that provides a kitchen garden for the Food Technology classrooms, an outdoor dining area for the hospitality course and a general space for all curricular areas to utilise for outdoor learning activities.
futureschoolsedinburgh.com 