Newbattle High School in Midlothian will become home to a pioneering new Digital Centre of Excellence, providing world-class digital skills learning for Scotland’s future innovators.

Midlothian Council and the University of Edinburgh are working together throughout the £38 million redevelopment of the school campus that includes a new public library, sports facilities and informal workspaces for self-employed people training in the latest technology.

The unique partnership has seen the new school designed specifically to act as a hub of innovation; transforming learning as well as teaching and equipping young people with the digital skills they will need to meet the demands of an ever changing, digital working environment.

The development is part-funded by the Scottish Government which has contributed £19 million to the project through its Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme.

Collaboration and Innovation

The school will work alongside a broad range of businesses, colleges and universities to ensure that the curriculum is fully up-to-date and that young people have all the relevant tools and infrastructure in place to develop their passions. A strong focus on robotics, data science, IT, digital marketing and even video and music production will provide both current and future Newbattle students with remarkable opportunities.

Central to this investment is the aim of tackling the cycle of poverty by providing greater access to opportunities. The school will offer an an enhanced curriculum with state of the art IT provisions and specialist training and teaching.

Midlothian Council’s cabinet member for education, Councillor Jim Muirhead, hailed the investment and collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, highlighting the opportunities that this provides not only for students at Newbattle High School, but from across the region.

He said: “The new Digital Centre of Excellence provides state-of-the-art facilities and is an example of partnership working at its best.”

“It will also act as a regional hub so that students from other schools can access the specialist resources available through video links and online learning.”

Data-Driven Innovation Programme

The University of Edinburgh’s role in the project is led by Professor Judy Robertson, who praised the commitment of the staff at Newbattle High School, stating: “As a digital learning specialist, it’s been a great pleasure for me to work with teachers and learners at Newbattle on this excellent project.”

The activities taking place at the Centre of Excellence will be closely aligned with the Data-Driven Innovation Programme, which is led by the University of Edinburgh. This programme is a key component of the upcoming Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, which aims to provide skills for Scotland’s young people and ensure that the nation is not left behind in a digitised, data-driven global economy.

Professor Robertson highlighted the importance of collaboration between secondary and high education institutions, which will ultimately help drive innovation and cultivate a highly skilled future workforce.

She said: “Everyone involved in delivering the Digital Centre of Excellence is ambitious and enthusiastic to help pupils achieve their full potential, and the University of Edinburgh is proud to work alongside them.

“Both the University and Midlothian Council aim to provide excellent digital learning and teaching, and we can learn a lot from each other through collaborations such as this.”