Fire-hit Liberton Primary shut until at least April

Pupils at a fire-damaged Edinburgh primary school are not expected to return to the building until April.

The blaze started in a ground-floor classroom in Liberton Primary School on Wednesday.

Edinburgh City Council said the fire caused "significant damage" and has put in contingency measures which will see pupils relocated to nearby schools.

Structural engineers are continuing to assess the building and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Paul Ewing, head teacher at Liberton Primary School, said staff and families had "rallied round" since news of the blaze broke.

He said: "This has obviously been a deeply upsetting time for the school and our pupils."

The fire was reported after classes had finished for the day but any remaining staff and pupils were evacuated safely with no reported injuries

A statement from the council said it anticipated that pupils and staff would be able to return to the school after the Easter holidays but in the meantime it had made arrangements for pupils to go back to lessons on 19 February.

The temporary arrangements will see Prestonfield Primary School take in all nursery and P1 children, as well as a composite P1 and P2 class.

Castleview Primary School will take in the rest of Liberton's P2 pupils, while Castlebrae High School will accommodate all P3 to P6 classes.

Inch House Community Education Centre will take in P7 pupils.

'Safety is paramount'

Edinburgh City Council said decanting the entire school would allow for cleaning-up operations and installing temporary buildings at the Gilmerton Road site.

Councillor Ian Perry, the city's education convener, said: "The safety of our pupils and staff is paramount.

"They'll be naturally disappointed they can't return to the school immediately but I'm sure they will understand that the whole school site has been impacted by the fire.

"Praise must go to everyone who has worked tirelessly reacting so swiftly and positively to this major incident, It's been a huge challenge to put in place alternative plans to educate 500 pupils at such short notice."