The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Unique’ school to be officially named following consultation
Decision: Lifelong learning committee will make the choice on Wednesday
The name of Scotland’s first completely new secondary school in more than 20 years will be agreed in the next few days.
After extensive consultation the recommendation before councillors is that they adopt the name Berthapark High School for the £32.5 million project on the outskirts of Perth.
Situated close to the River Almond and the villages of Pitcairngreen and Almondbank, the name references a historical feature of the area – Bertha was the medieval name for the Roman fort where the Almond meets the River Tay.
The school is described as “unique” in the current Scottish Government schools programme in that it is not a direct replacement for an existing school, rather it is an entirely new building to serve Perth’s growing population.
The school will be part of a £1 billion city expansion being built by Springfield Properties to the north of Perth.
It will have a capacity of 1,100, with the first roll of around 100 pupils scheduled to move into the building in August 2019.
The tally will rise by about 120 each year, meaning that full capacity will not be reached for at least nine years after opening.
Plans have been lodged for the school and a decision on the name will be taken on Wednesday March 29 at a meeting of the council’s lifelong learning committee.
During the consultation process on a suitable name various guidelines were given.
Suggestions were not to be generically Scottish or reflect a famous person and had to be suitable for use on signage and uniforms.
Geographical or historical connections were encouraged and the name should avoid confusion with other secondary schools, people were told.
“The response to the consultation has been positive, with a variety of responses received from pupils, school staff and parent councils,” said Sheena Devlin, director, education and children services, in a report.
“The majority of the suggestions are being submitted by the pupils in the P6 classes.”
The most frequently made suggestions included the word Bertha in some variation, leading to the proposed name.
The name Berthapark is spelled as one word because that is the way the area appears on Ordnance Survey maps.