General Introduction to Project
Ardnamurchan High School is one of a number of strategic high schools in Highland Region serving the west coast. The community had been campaigning for a secondary school for over ten years in order to avoid the need for pupils in the area to make as much as a three hour trip to Mull, Mallaig or Fort William and, in some cases, to board at one of these schools all week. The school also incorporates an Arts and Community Centre (the Sunart Centre), so that as well as providing an education facility, the building is also a major asset to the community of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula as a whole, allowing all kinds of events to take place. The remoteness of some parts of the school's catchment area and the fact that the school receives placement requests from outwith the local area means that a few pupils board at the adjacent purpose-built residence.
The justification for the new school focused firmly on the fact that it would be more than 'just a school'. Prior to the realisation of this facility, the Ardnamurchan community had no dedicated building for the arts, performance, sports and other community activities. The community facilities now include a library, indoor and outdoor sports facilities and a 250-seat theatre with café-bar facilities (when required), as well as dedicated community rooms, a youth club, and bases for further and higher education students from Lochaber College. The local music, arts and craft communities now have much better opportunities to interact with the school.
The school is included as an example of what can be achieved through Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement with sufficient community and end user consultation and by creating a clear understanding of what is and what is not possible within cost constraints. The project also demonstrates the advantages of working with the community to enhance the outcome.