Scottish Catholic Observer

Scotland’s first ever joint Catholic-Jewish primary school has received a funding boost from the Scottish Government.

The new school planned in Newton Mearns received £300,000 from the Inspiring Learning Spaces fund towards an interactive hub for all pupils and staff.

The school will have a new ‘market square’ fitted with modern computing facilities, free Wi-FI access and ‘learning zones’ when it opens in August 2017.

“Our proposal for a faith schools’ joint campus is a bold and unique one,” Councillor Elaine Green, convenor for education and equalities in East Renfrewshire, said.

The new campus, which is expected to cost in the region of £13 million, is to be built in Newton Mearns on a site opposite Mearns Castle High.

Since the joint campus was announced in October 2013, members of both Jewish and Catholic communities have welcomed the move. For Jewish pupils who currently have to travel to school, the new campus is closer to their homes and Mearns Castle High School.

The Catholic Church has welcomed the joint denominational campus, in contrast to previous opposition to proposals to merge Catholic schools with non-denominational schools.

“Two schools from different religious traditions each with their own ethos, headteacher and staff, both based on the commandments, cannot but complement each other,” Fr Thomas Boyle (above), who sits on East Renfrewshire’s Education Committee, said.

The move was welcomed too by Bishop John Keenan of Paisley when he called for an end to Scottish anti-semitism earlier this year.

—Full report in the SCO in parishes on Friday September 11