News: Contractor selected for £60m Rotherham school rebuild

Public consultation is underway on a £60m state of the art refurbishment at Wales High School in Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported in 2022 that Wales High School was one of 61 schools across the country to receive state of the art rebuilds or refurbishments that will transform education for their pupils.

With funding from the Government's School Rebuilding Programme the main school building at Wales is set to be completely rebuilt into a state-of-the-art facility. Since the announcement was made, the school has been working with the Department for Education (DfE) to agree on the educational design of the project and the timeframe for delivery.

DfE has chosen BAM as their preferred contractor for the project. BAM, will shortly be submitting a planning application for the development and have begun asking for views on the proposed development before finalising the detailed design.

Sharing the designs, the school said: "The existing school will be replaced and refurbished with energy-efficient designs with high sustainability standards and will be net-zero in operation. The project will transform the learning environment, supporting teachers to deliver high-quality education, so that students gain the knowledge, skills and qualifications they need to succeed.

"The works includes providing new hard and soft sports areas. The new teaching accommodation includes general teaching and science classrooms, together with a new main kitchen and dining space."

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Building work is due to begin in 2025 and the new building is expected to be completed in summer 2027. Demolition of the redundant buildings will follow, with all building works anticipated to be complete in Autumn 2027.

The project has been carefully planned to ensure the school can remain fully operational throughout construction and ensure minimal impact on neighbours.

A public forum is being held at the site on September 26 2024 at 4:15 – 7:15 pm.

Previously in the borough, BAM Construct UK was awarded a £10.9m contract to upgrade Maltby Academy. It also built the Advanced Blade Casting Facility (ABCF) for Rolls-Royce and the NUclear AMRC, both on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Last year, Rothbiz reported that Swinton Acadamy in the north of the borough had also been successful in the School Rebuilding Programme.

Wales High School website

Images: BAM

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News: New Business and Enterprise centre at Maltby Academy

Staff and students are moving into the new Business and Enterprise centre at Maltby Academy in Rotherham.

The centre is one of two new buildings as part of a £10.9m construction programme undertaken by BAM Construction that also includes refreshing, remodelling and refurbishing other parts of the academy's estate.

At the heart of the new campus, the "academy ready for business" will offer a variety of corporate, open plan and cellular business centre-style spaces and bring together learning centres, classrooms, IT suites and seminar and conference areas.

David Sutton, principal at Maltby Academy, said: "It is particularly pleasing to see the vision become a reality.

"On seeing the new spaces for the first time, students have commented on how the central staircase and feature wall in reception were just as they visualized from the photographs. Everyone entering the new building is "wowed" by the impressive and modern looking spaces."

Rotherham-based education technology specialists, U-Explore is the lead sponsor of Maltby Academy, which is home to 1,200 students. Enterprising learning is central to the ethos of the academy, enabling students to be "qualified" to confidently enter the world of work with not only the necessary qualifications to succeed, but also an understanding of how to apply themselves in work and life.

Sutton added: "At Maltby Academy we are determined to address the employment gap by equipping our young people with the skills, attitudes and behaviours that will make them "work ready" in the future.

"Our curriculum provides a relevance and context to the specialist learning in key stages 4 and 5 and links with business and employers at appropriate points. In some curriculum areas the learning is enriched by a work experience placement or a visit to a particular employment sector. Every year the likes of Shell, BP, Tata Steel and Brinsworth Engineering support the Rotherham Science/Technology days held across the borough. This promotes learning in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects in the town and secondary students from across all Rotherham schools participate in a range of events aimed at promoting interest in STEM subjects.

"For each of the companies involved this is a good chance to engage with schools and to show the potential career opportunities available. Personally, I feel that business has a responsibility to do this. If companies have a much more informed group of young people coming through the recruitment process they stand to benefit."

Maltby Academy and Academy Sixth Form are hosting "An Evening with Employers" on Monday October 21, 6.00pm - 7.00pm. The "work inspiration" evening brings together local employers, Higher Education providers, with current and past students from the Health and Social Care, Sport, IT, Hair, Beauty and Construction sectors to talk about the range of local job opportunities that are available and routes into the profession.

Maltby Academy website

Images: BAM Construction

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News: AMRC construction nears completion on AMP

BAM Construction is weeks away from the completion of a major development on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham.

The £20m development for the University of Sheffield includes the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which opened in October, and the Knowledge Transfer Centre.

The Nuclear AMRC is a joint initiative between the University of Sheffield, The University of Manchester, and a consortium of industry partners. It will provide a focal point for the bulk of the UK civil nuclear manufacturing industry supply chain, ensuring that manufacturers in the UK have the capability and capacity required to compete for nuclear new build in the UK and globally, from skills training to research and development.

The Knowledge Transfer Centre will enable the AMRC to increase R&D activity and collaboration with regional manufacturers. It aims to increase the rate of knowledge transfer, bringing more companies into long-term collaborations with the AMRC Hub's research centres.

The two and three storey building will be used for the training of industrial experts in certification and regulations.

The advanced facility is being powered by the first Powerwind 56 turbine installed in the UK. BAM recently installed the German-manufactured wind turbine outside the research centre.

Standing 99 metres tall, it has generated 170 Mwh since it first started production in December, equivalent to the annual electricity use of 50 households.

The turbine will generate electricity to power the facility, and feed any excess to the National Grid.

Nick Howdle, project manager for BAM, said: "The turbine is the first of its kind in this country.

"Within six years it will have paid for itself and any electricity sold to the grid after that time will be pure profit.

"This turbine shows German engineering at its best and BAM is pleased to have played a part in introducing it to the UK."

As well as wind power, the facility uses ground source heat pumps with a capacity of 850kW heating and 690Kw cooling.

Nuclear AMRC website

Images: AMRC

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