Options revealed for multi-million investment in Johnstone schools and Trinity High

Councillors are to be updated next week on work to identify options for the next stage of Renfrewshire Council’s ambitious multi-million-pound school investment programme. 

The update will set out high-level options for priority projects, which include a new site for Trinity High School and different options to replace Johnstone High School. 

It also confirms there will be a redesign of Johnstone’s primary school estate – with numbers attending the town’s seven schools set to fall over the next decade. 

Renfrewshire Council is delivering the biggest-ever long-term investment in the area’s schools – with councillors last year agreeing to make available an initial £170m to help transform and modernise the area’s learning estate for future generations. 

The high-level options for the agreed priority areas include: 

• Trinity High School will need a new school on a new site, and work is under way to find one. Work has shown the current site is too small for the school to be refurbished or rebuilt there. One specific option that will be explored is a new-build joint campus with Renfrew High School on the King George V playing fields; 
• There are three viable options for Johnstone High School – refurbish the current building, a new school on the current site, and a new school on a new site. Work will continue to further develop each; 
• Johnstone’s primary estate will be redesigned to make best use of existing capacity, and to consider the best location for a new-build school in which more than one existing school would be combined. 
• The redesign of the Johnstone primary estate is needed because the town’s seven schools are currently 68% full and this is set to fall substantially over the next decade. 
• While three schools (Auchenlodment, St Margaret’s and Thorn) are older and in need of investment, Johnstone’s other buildings are modern but not being used to their capacity. 
• Councillor Emma Rodden, convener of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board, said: “We are delivering the biggest-ever investment in Renfrewshire’s schools to transform them for current and future generations of pupils, staff and communities to help every pupil reach their potential. 
• “To get the best value for that investment, we are going through a thorough process to look at all options for every priority school and find the best way ahead. 
• “Our work on the Johnstone primary estate shows we will need to make changes to the current set-up, including making better use of existing spare capacity. We can’t do that by looking at any school in isolation, which is why we’re considering them all together. 

“The end result will be for all of Johnstone’s pupils and staff to be in high-quality buildings with modern facilities which work for the wider community. There’s a number of ways we could get there and the next step is to further develop these and find the best one. 

“Johnstone High School needs investment but it may or may not be viable to do that on the current site, which is why we are looking at multiple options to find the best way ahead. 

“And with Trinity we now know the school will need to move. Work is under way to find suitable sites within the existing catchment. 

“It will take time before any of these changes can be implemented. In the meantime, we will make sure all existing buildings are well-maintained for current pupils. 

“In each case, close engagement with the school communities affected will be at the heart of our approach – that work has already started and will continue over the years ahead.” 

Each project is moving through a detailed business-case process. The next steps will see shortlists of specific options created by early 2026, to be further developed and narrowed down to a single preferred option for each area by early 2027. 

Statutory consultations would follow with any community where changes are planned, and if new projects are agreed, it could be 2030 or beyond by the time they are built. 

Council officers have already met with parent-council representatives in the affected areas, with a survey issued last month to parents and staff at affected schools to get their initial views on what should be important as future investment is planned. 

A further eight schools previously identified as priorities will go through the same business-case process, starting next year. These are: Castlehead High, and St Catherine’s, Gallowhill, St Peter’s, West, Heriot, Brediland and Bridge of Weir Primaries. 

The council is currently delivering a new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus (opening August 2026), plus the new Thistle Primary School in Dargavel, and an expansion and redesign of Park Mains High School in Erskine (both due to complete August 2027). 

This process will ensure communities, educators and young people are at the heart of the decisions that Renfrewshire Council takes to provide learners with the highest quality of education for years to come.