The Barony Campus in Cumnock is one of Scotland’s most innovative, ambitious and inclusive learning facility. It opened its doors to the Robert Burns Academy and Supported Learning Centre pupils in October 2020. Hillside ASN and Lochnorris Primary School and Supported Learning Centre and Early Childhood Centre pupils started in the Campus in November 2020.
The official opening ceremony took place on Monday 8 March 2021.
The Barony Campus in Cumnock will be the biggest capital project ever undertaken by East Ayrshire Council, with costs in the region of £68m. The new Campus will incorporate:
- Barshare Primary School, Supported Learning Centre and Early Childhood Centre
- Greenmill Primary School and Early Childhood Centre
- Hillside ASN School
- Auchinleck Academy
- Cumnock Academy and Supported Learning Centre
We are committed to delivering an inclusive learning environment where state-of-the-art facilities are provided for its children, young people and members of the community. A further focus on health and wellbeing will ensure this commitment extends to the outdoor facilities and these will provide enhanced leisure and recreational facilities for all members of the community who currently use the existing Broomfield site.
Children and young people, staff, parents and the local community are playing a significant role in developing the design for the campus. They have been working with the design team and senior officers to ensure the design of the campus reflects the educational aspirations of the Council, taking into account the requirements of the local community and the natural heritage and architecture of the area.
Subject to completion of all necessary legal and procurement procedures, construction is planned to begin in April 2018.
Videos
Have a look inside the new Barony Campus.
Aerial footage of the progress to date
Watch the progress so far.
Virtual tour
Take a walk through the campus with our virtual tour of the building.
News
The Head of Education, Linda McAulay-Griffiths has written to parents and carers providing an overview of the arrangements for the opening of Lochnorris Primary School and Hillside School on Wednesday 18 November and Cherry Trees Early Childhood Centre on Thursday 19 November.
Letters have also been sent to parents and carers from the Head of each establishment with detailed information to help everyone prepare for their first day at the Barony Campus.
Travel and access information
Download the travel and access information for the Barony Campus (PDF 5.76Mb)
The Robert Burns Academy Passport
Download the Passport to the Barony Campus - The Robert Burns Academy (PDF 6.89Mb)
Press releases
Read our press releases:
Newsletters from Morrison Construction
Consultation
Find out about the consultation exercise.
Project timeline
Start date: April 2018
Finish date: May/June 2020
Download reports
Animation of our vision (YouTube hosted video)
Project progress
- Sports pitches were officially opened on Tuesday 5 March 2019
- The foundation stone has been laid by Deputy First Minister John Swinney on 26 September 2018
- Sod cutting event took place on 11 June 2018.
- Morrison Construction invite you to ‘meet the team’ on Thursday 17 May 2pm-4pm in the Boswell Centre, Auchinleck and 4.30pm – 6.30pm at Cumnock Rugby Club. Come along and find out what will be happening with the construction process over the coming months.
- January 2018 new names officially agreed by Cabinet:
- The Barony Campus.
- The Secondary School and Supported Learning Centre has been named The Robert Burns Academy.
- The Primary School and Supported Learning Centre has been named Lochnorris Primary School.
- The Early Childhood Centre has been named Cherry Trees Early Childhood Centre.
- Hillside School will remain the same with no change.
- Morrison Construction have been appointed as the preferred contractor for the project and have been awarded a pre-construction service agreement.
- Planning continues on satellite projects in relation to the Underwood depot and East Ayrshire Woodlands. Works have been completed at Netherthird Playing Pitches to allow Cumnock Rugby Club to temporarily move to these facilities during the period of the build.
- A consultation into the naming of the campus, secondary school and supported learning centre, primary school, supported learning centre and early childhood centre is currently underway. Hillside ASN will retain its name. Groups to be consulted include the school community, local community, the small business sector and the voluntary sector. Proposals, accompanied by a reason for the choice, should be sent to eacschools@east-ayrshire.gov.uk by Friday 14th November 2017. All proposals will be collated into a report and Cabinet will make the final decision in early 2018.
- A market testing exercise has commenced in order to establish an overall tender price for the works.
- Consultation responses to the planning application to be submitted by 28 February 2017.
- Notice of Pre-Application Public Exhibition took place on 19 December 2016 at Da Vinci’s Café, Cumnock. View the Public Consultation Boards.
- Pre-application consultation sessions took place on 20 September 2016 (Auchinleck community) and 21 September 2016 (Cumnock community). Representatives from the design team and East Ayrshire Council staff were present to discuss the emerging proposals for the campus with the local community. All who attended had the opportunity to provide written feedback before a planning application is prepared and submitted.
- We are seeking your views on the proposals to inform the preparation of an application for planning permission. We would be grateful if you would take the time to complete our short questionnaire. The Project Team will reflect on the comments provided in the pre-application consultation questionnaires, review the comments with East Ayrshire Council Education Services and amend the design where appropriate.
- Responses provided in the questionnaires will be summarised and the outcomes reported to East Ayrshire Councils planning department in the form of a Pre-Application Consultation Report which will ultimately be placed in the public domain. This Report will not include respondents name and address details whereby individual respondents could be identified, rather it will contain analysis of the comments received insofar as they relate specifically to the application proposals and forthcoming application for planning permission.
- Please note, any comments made on these proposals are to the prospective applicant only and do not constitute formal representations to a planning application. When a planning application is submitted there will be an opportunity to make formal representations on that application to East Ayrshire Council.
- Public Consultation Boards (internal layouts continue to evolve in consultation with staff).
- Consultation questionnaire
- Sheppard Robson, the Design Team for the project committed to a programme of school and community consultation sessions. Staff, parent council representatives and members of the community were invited to take part in a wide range of sessions.
- A series of visits to new build schools across neighbouring authorities and to schools in the North West of England have also been arranged for staff and parent council representatives. The purpose of these visits is to capitalise on lessons learned from staff and pupils at these establishments.
- Anne Barbour, teacher of Learning Support at Cumnock Academy, regularly involves pupils from the Supported Learning Centre in outdoor education along the pathway between Broomfield and Dumfries House. Recognising that the pathway needs updating she applied for a grant from Tesco PLC and has been awarded £12,000. At a recent meeting, representatives from both schools, East Ayrshire Council and Dumfries House met for an initial discussion on how the project could be moved forward to improve this link for the school and the local community. A joint survey of the current pathway will be the starting point. The two secondary schools will work on a collaborative project to determine how the grant funding will be spent e.g. distance markers and wildlife/nature interpretation boards across the length of the pathway - Sheppard Robson will support this project. Dumfries House will build benches for the route.
- The appointment of Sheppard Robson as the design team for the new campus is an important milestone in the project and it follows an extensive procurement exercise undertaken by East Ayrshire Council in partnership with the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland (RIAS). Alex McPhee, Depute Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer said: “The project attracted interest from some of the world’s biggest architectural companies and Sheppard Robson showed they have a real understanding of our ambitions and how they can be delivered.
- Space Strategies has produced the animation (above) of our vision for the new campus. The strategic briefing document and accommodation schedule will now be taken forward by the design team.
- On 8 February 2016 senior officers, head teachers, pupils and community group representatives attended presentation and interview sessions in the Council Chambers to provide feedback in assisting the selection of a design partner for the Campus. This was carried out in partnership with The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. A project brief was produced. The focus of this stage in the process was to select a partner who would lead the design of the new campus in partnership with local stakeholders from the community and school population. At this point, it was not about selecting a design or layout but choosing a partner with ambition, creativity and an ethos which complements the ambitious vision of East Ayrshire Council, the schools and communities of the area. Each team had the opportunity to demonstrate how they would ensure functional, aesthetic and financial aspects are appropriately developed and how they would work with all stakeholders to take the project forward. Thanks to everyone who attended on the day.
- Space Strategies engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to produce an accommodation schedule which will be used by the design team
- Site investigations took place at Broomfield Playing Fields and Cumnock Academy in November 2015. These investigations were to determine the ground condition prior to the construction of the new school. Construction works will not commence on site until summer 2017.