THEY are aiming, quite literally, to be the “top” school in Huddersfield.

And judging by the comments they have received so far, those behind the new school for Stile Common are on the right track.

The steel skeleton of the new Hillside Primary School is dominating the skyline from miles around, nestling alongside the famous landmark of Newsome Mills’ clock tower.

And on the site itself, the sheer scale of the new multi-million pound project becomes apparent as the work progresses.

Children and parents from both Stile Common Infant and Nursery School and Stile Common Junior School are regular visitors to the site, taking shape behind the existing junior school off Headfield Road.

Another claim to fame for the new school will be that is one of the most energy-efficient in the whole of the UK. Special green measures including a biomass boiler and a wind turbine are all to be included in the school, which is due to open for pupils in October.

Mrs Dawn Horton, currently head at the Infants School, is to be the new head and is excited as anyone about the project.

“It is tremendously exciting. When I did my head teacher training years ago, we were asked to come up with our ideal school and this is as close as you can get to that.

“But it is also a school in which the children, the parents, the staff and the community have had a big say.

“They have been consulted on everything – including the name. Hillside was the top choice, with many others including Top o’t Hill also put forward. And the children have been encouraged to come up with ideas which have been incorporated, from the design of the door handles to the pond in the grounds for environmental lessons.

“When the new Moorlands School opened last year, that was rightly described as the top school in Kirklees.

“We are going to steal their title.”

Hillside Primary School will have 340 children

The school will feature nine classrooms, a large hall, a dance studio and specialist rooms

The complex will also include a Children’s Centre, currently housed in a portable building at the Infants School

The Infants School dates from 1876; the Junior School, to be demolished, from 1976.