Hutchesons' Grammar School has unveiled plans for a £1m campus for excellence on Glasgow's south side, bringing its primary and secondary schools together on a single site in Pollokshaws. The work is being carried out in holiday-period sprints so the school can stay open throughout, with completion expected by August next year.

The first phase was finished during the half-term break last February and delivered four redeveloped classrooms and a main corridor upgrade. The next round of work, due over the summer holidays, will add a lower school area for the youngest pupils, an outdoor play space with timber trails, biodiversity areas and social seating for pupils from Primary 1 to S6, and a new wellbeing hub made up of four bases at the heart of the campus.

Mark Ronan said the project would create a unified, seamless campus for excellence and that the reinvestment would mean all pupils benefit from excellent facilities and learning environments. He also said the changes would strengthen specialist provision in science, art, drama, music and sport for primary pupils. The school says the wellbeing hub is designed to give pupils a supportive and accessible place to seek help when they need it.

The programme has been partly financed by the sale of the school’s primary building on Kingarth Street and its tennis courts in Darnley Gardens. Hutchesons’ said the co-location plans were hastened by the imposition of VAT on school fees at the start of last year, and that it is one of only a few independent schools in Scotland making substantial investment in physical infrastructure after the tax change.

The move comes as independent schools across Scotland reassess their plans in the wake of the VAT change. A report commissioned by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools estimated that the policy has already led to a 9% drop in pupil numbers, 900 fewer teachers working in the sector and a £68 million cost to the Scottish economy. For Hutchesons', the answer is already under construction: one campus, one timetable, and a school trying to turn pressure into permanence.