‘ELDERBANK’ is to be the name of Irvine’s new primary school, bringing together pupils from Fencedyke, Broomlands and Towerlands.

Members of North Ayrshire Council’s cabinet voted for Elderbank over the names ‘Cherrylands’ and ‘Cunninghame’ following presentations from the school’s future pupils at a meeting last week.

Work began on the £10.6 million primary school - previously referred to as ‘Irvine East’ - in March and is well on schedule to be handed over and operational ahead of the new session in August 2014.

The ambitious project will bring together children who currently attend Fencedyke, Broomlands and Towerlands Primary Schools. Pupils from all three schools have been involved in the design of the new school from the outset, with the naming just one example of their valuable input.

The name ‘Elderbank’, presented by Robin and Kelsie of Towerlands, is inspired by the Elder trees (also known as Bourtrees) that are so numerous in Bourtreehill.

According to local legend, an Elder tree has the power to prevent spirits from haunting you, which explains why so many were planted around Irvine. Towerlands pupils also took inspiration from the fact their new school is situated by the banks of the River Annick, thus ‘Elderbank’.

‘Cunninghame’, put forward by Emily and Nicole from Fencedyke, was the name of old Ayrshire and its nomination was inspired by “a need to remember the past” and find something that would have meaning for the pupils of all three schools.

‘Cherrylands’, proposed by Lauren and Elliot of Broomlands, followed the pattern of local schools such as Broomlands and Towerlands being named for the farms on which they were built. The new school is to be built on Cherrylands Farm, so the name would have followed that pattern, with the added benefit of being unique and a little unusual.

‘Elderbank’ was chosen by majority vote in a secret ballot at last week’s meeting.

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for education attainment and achievement, said: “I am delighted to see the great progress which has been made with the new school.

“By naming the school and moving away from the generic Irvine East moniker, I sense that the new building will become more ‘real’ to everyone in the community.

“The pupils certainly made it a hard choice and have clearly put a lot of thought into their suggestions. Any one of the three suggestions would have been an excellent choice.

“However, we did manage to come to a decision and I am delighted to be able to officially announce that the new school will be named Elderbank Primary.

“The school is one of the most ambitious developments we have ever seen in North Ayrshire and I am confident it will give the children the best possible learning environment.

“It is testament to the staff, parents, education staff and, of course, pupils, that we have made such smooth progress and have developed a school that will meet everyone’s needs.

“While the design is different from the new Dreghorn Primary, I am sure that our ambition to develop high quality places to learn will be just as successful.

“I would once again like to thank everyone who has played a part so far and I am excited to see the final stages of the development in the next few months."