St John Vianney pupils win competition to transform school classroom

Primary school pupils’ idea for a new inspiring space in their school will become a reality after they won an innovative new competition run by the City of Edinburgh Council.

St John Vianney RC Primary School pupils came up with the idea of transforming their outdated Audio Visual room into a flexible learning area for the whole school to use for different activities as part of the Future Schools Edinburgh project.

The collaborative project involves pupils and staff from across the city coming up with innovative ideas to create new classroom designs and learning environment.

Fourteen schools submitted their entries with five shortlisted entries voted on by a judging panel and delegates at the Education Buildings Scotland conference this week. The four runners-up were Corstorphine Primary School, St Cuthbert’s RC Primary School, Murrayburn Primary School, and Broughton High School.

Excited pupils from St John Vianney were at the conference when John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Education, announced their successful design was going to be created thanks to a partnership between the Council and Hub South East Scotland.

This will see a ‘junior project team’ set up involving pupils to oversee their design through to completion with the room containing new technology, a teaching kitchen, quiet space and different storage areas.

P5 Pupils Emre Ocak, Krystian Szczesny, Zofia Dolata-Kowalczyk, Addison Young and Keeva Healy said: “The slogan for our project was ‘One room for all and all for one room’. The room is used by everyone but is old, dull and empty. The new room will have more colour and be fun. We want people to say ‘Wow’ when they come in and start learning.”

Pauline Reid, St John Vianney teacher who supported the pupils in their project, said: “Getting the award means everything not just to the pupils and staff but the whole school community. The learning journey the pupils have been on, along with their enthusiasm and commitment, has been incredible. We’re all so proud of them and how they have engaged with the project. This will have long-lasting benefits for the school.”

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