Wednesday, November 20, 2013

News: Construction boom as council invests in borough's schools

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Rotherham Council is making a number of multimillion pound investments in construction projects to meet increased demand at schools in the borough.

The Council recently gave approval for a new 17-classroom building at Wickersley School and Sports College as part of a £3m extensionn that will also include a a new special educational needs unit.

The new accommodation, designed by the authority's Design and Projects Team, will be located within a separate building on three floors, sited and situated within the existing grounds of the school facing Bawtry Road.

Councillor Paul Lakin, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families Services, at Rotherham Borough Council, said: "This new building will be bright and modern and will maximise teaching space. It will will be built with sustainable, energy-saving materials of a design geared to creating a stimulating, exciting and friendly school environment that will link-in well with the school's teaching vision."

David Hudson, head teacher at Wickersley, added: "We have 2,018 students on roll at the moment and this is likely to increase to 2,100 or even 2,150 in the future, so this building is much-needed and very welcome. 

"We also have the most successful Sixth Form in Rotherham, with numbers reaching over 500 soon. In all we will have 1,600 pupils aged 11 to 16 and 550 sixth formers -  a total of 2,150 students. This is some 300 more students than our current buildings can deal with so we look forward to when the new block is completed."

A successful bid by the authority to the Department for Education's targeted basic need programme will provide the funding for the project and work is expected to be completed by October next year.

It follows on from announcements that schools in Listerdale and Herringthorpe will benefit from an investment of over £2m that will see the building of new classroom blocks to accommodate the rise in pupil numbers.

Herringthorpe Infants School will benefit from five additional teaching and learning areas at a cost of £1.8m that will allow the school to take an extra 20 children in September 2013. Listerdale Primary School will benefit from the provision of two new classrooms that will provide 15 new places at the school.

Wath C of E Primary School is also set for a permanent expansion to provide four additional classrooms at an approximate cost of £800K to be completed by August 2017.

Plans are also progressing for a new £5m Central Primary School in Eastwood. The council secured £3m from the government earlier this year, academy sponsors have been selected and the new school, on an area of land off Eldon Road, is anticipated to open in September 2015.

Rotherham Council website

Images: Wickersley School and Sports College

1 comments:

Tom,  November 28, 2013 at 9:26 AM  

George Hurst Ltd bagged the £2.4m tender for the Wickersley construction project.

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