Site Development Programme
As we prepare for the opening of Erskine Stewart Melville, a programme of site development projects will take place across our sites over the coming months. These projects are an important part of ensuring that our facilities are ready to support all students from August 2026 and beyond, while also enhancing and improving the high-quality provision already in place.
We appreciate that any construction activity on a school site can raise questions for families. Our priority throughout this programme is to ensure that learning, wellbeing and the day-to-day experience of students remain uninterrupted.
Our Approach
We have carefully planned all works to minimise disruption to students and staff.
In particular:
- Much of the work will take place in classrooms and spaces that are currently unoccupied
- Where teaching needs to be temporarily relocated, suitable alternative spaces have been identified in advance to ensure continuity of learning
- We are working closely with our contractors to manage noise and activity levels, with specific controls in place during assessment and examination periods
- All works will be carried out in line with strict health and safety procedures, with clear separation between construction areas and student spaces
Below is an overview of the planned works, including the areas affected and the anticipated timeline. Please note that dates are indicative and may be adjusted slightly as the programme progresses. Any significant changes will be communicated directly to parents.
Queensferry Road CampusÂ
| Areas of Development | Details and Dates |
| Science and Product Design Building | From 16 February – 7 August, work will begin on our Science and Product Design building, transforming these spaces to ensure they are suitable for the new Senior School.
Students will no longer have pedestrian access to the Queensferry Road site through the gate on Ravelston Terrace. Students can continue to enter the site on foot via the main car park entrance further along Ravelston Terrace, or via the Junior School entrance on Queensferry Road. With this in mind, these entrances may see higher footfall than usual. From 30 March – 24 April, the Product Design spaces will be closed as work is completed. We have a provision in place for our Product Design students to continue their work at SMC. |
| Senior School Library Extension in Old College | From 30 March – 10 April, we will start work to increase the size of the Senior School Library, knocking through from the existing Library space into a classroom next door.
Alternative accommodation has been organised for English classes and students whose form class is in the Library, and our Library team is already busy planning their new space. |
| New Sixth Form Centre | From 16 February, we will begin work on the Wallace Dunlop building, currently a space used for Junior School and some Senior School Maths classrooms, to create a new Sixth Form Centre. The new space will include a grab and go catering space, spaces to relax in and quiet rooms for study. |
| New Fitness Centre and Studio Space | From 30 March – 13 April, the Fitness Suite will be closed to the general public as works begin to increase the size of the fitness suite and convert the Sixth Form common room into a new fitness studio space for our Senior School students.
From 30 March – August, the Sixth Form Centre and study area will be closed to students. Desks and tables will be set up in the upstairs atrium area in the Rutherford Building for senior students who would like a quiet place to study during exam time. |
Ravelston CampusÂ
| Areas of Development | Detail and Dates |
| New Primary 7 Classrooms | From 30 March onwards, six science labs will be transformed, one at a time, into new Primary 7 classrooms. |
| New Playground | In the Summer term, we will break ground on the new Primary 4 –7 playground, which will be placed in front of the Cricket Scotland offices. |
| New Junior School Drama spaces | From 23 March, work will begin to transform the current MES fitness suite into spaces for Junior School Drama. |
| New Junior School Main Reception | From 27 April, work will begin to repurpose the Sixth Form Common Room into the new Junior School Main Reception. We have timed this work to commence when the students break for study leave. Sixth Form students will still have access to the Sixth Form study room. |
We are enormously appreciative of the generosity shown by our parents and the wider school community through Giving Day, which is directly supporting several of these important developments.
We will continue to keep parents informed as the works progress, including any updates to timelines or access arrangements.