The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Rector hails strength of pupils through hardship
Children attending Dunfermline school have endured fire and now pandemic
Exactly one year on from the fire which devastated Woodmill High School in Dunfermline, pupils face fresh challenges as they continue their studies amid a pandemic.
The blaze, which destroyed the Department of Additional Support (Das) and large sections of the school in Shields Road, meant 1,400 pupils and staff had to be decanted to eight separate sites.
After a major construction project to create a new wing at Woodmill, nearly all pupils, with the exception of youngsters from the Das, are back on site.
With the Covid-19 pandemic creating uncertainty for schools across the country, rector Sandy Mcintosh said: “I’m not taking anything for granted given the world we live in just now so I’m being a wee bit cautious around that but it’s really nice having all of the kids back in.”
Mr Mcintosh described the past year as “really challenging” and said the thunderstorms and flooding which coincided with the first day of term did not help.
“It has felt like we’ve been getting picked on as a school community at different times but having said that we’re really, really fortunate that we’ve got a strong culture within the school.
“Our parents have been fantastic.
“They’ve done a lot to support the young people within the school and the young people have been amazing as well. They’ve worked really hard in those challenging circumstances, so I’ve been very, very proud of our young people, and they’ve been really resilient through all of this.”
He said working across eight sites had been “a real stretch” but everyone is expected to be back on site in October, when the new Das at Woodmill and features including a new dining hall and science classrooms are due to open.
“We still need to get our young people from the Das back into the building and only at that point I think will I pause for
“It has felt like we’ve been getting picked on as a school community. SANDY MCINTOSH
breath but we’ve been very fortunate in that a massive range of partners have worked really, really hard to work on quite tight timescales in really difficult circumstances to have a school that pupils are proud of, Mr Mcintosh said.
“It’s been a very challenging year but our young people constantly amaze me with what they are, what they’ve done and what they’ve put up with, and with how well they have done.
“But we still need to be careful. It’s a really challenging time that young people are going through just now so we’re keen to do everything we can as a school to support them.”