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NEW BUILDINGS Wyken Croft Primary School is the third school in Coventry to open in new buildings under the PSBP. In total, seven schools are being rebuilt across the city. Wyken Croft joins Whitmore Park Primary School and St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, which both opened this year. Wyken Croft Primary School has benefitted from a new £7.1 million, two-storey, rebuild comprising new classrooms, a large dining-hall area, state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, a new nursery, and a new centre for before- and after-school clubs. The rebuild was completed in just over 12 months and involved a partnership between the school, Coventry city council, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the contractor, Wates Construction. Derek Gardiner, Executive Headteacher at Wyken Croft Primary School, said: “Wyken Croft has a long and proud history stretching back over 60 years. We now have an outstanding new building with excellent facilities, which we hope will serve both the children and community of Wyken just as proudly in helping to further enhance their achievement and progress.” Newark Academy turf-cutting ceremony
THE FIRST OPENING Whitmore Park Primary School in Coventry opened on 1 May and was the first completed project under the programme. It had its run-down, old school building completely rebuilt in just 11 months. The £5 million Whitmore Park project comprises a new build primary school for 630 pupils with a 39-place nursery. The two wings share a central hub comprising the entrance, studio and hall, making it an efficient and effective design. The two-storey school now includes two halls, which enables staff to run lunch time activities for one group of children while others are eating. The new building has gone up alongside the old one which is due for demolition. The former building dates back to the early 1950s and is one of several city primary schools built with metal originally destined for the aircraft industry. Caroline Kiely, executive headteacher at Whitmore Park Primary School, said: “I’m sure the new school environment will make a real difference to the
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staff and children here at Whitmore Park. Our previous building was past its best so the new school will mean that less money will have to be spent on repairs and can be spent on better equipment or more staff instead.” Pupil Bryn Williams, nine, said: “It’s a bit hard to find our way around. But it’s better than the old one. Everything kept breaking and there were leaks and buckets in the corridor.” Stephen Beechey, managing director for education and investment at Wates, the contractor who built the school, said: “The Priority School Building Programme is proving itself an extremely successful means of ensuring new school facilities result in inspirational learning environments that encourage educational excellence. This can clearly be seen in the delivery of Whitmore Park. Wates has maintained a close working partnership with the Education Funding Agency throughout the design and build programme to maintain cost and time efficiency, leading to completion of the first school under the programme.”
As of r be GARSTON MANOR Novem chools Garston Manor School, 4s 2014, 1 ned as part a special educational needs school in Watford e have op overnment’s catering for up to 124 g o t e h e secondary aged boys t m f o ogram ools and girls (11 to 16 year r p n b 4 £2. olds) has also re-opened 261 scht d l i u b e in its new building. The s r r o school handles all special in the wion educational needs including condit
learning difficulties, autism or speech, and language related needs. The renovated £5 million, single story, rebuild comprises new classrooms and a dining area and hall, as well as new internal and external spaces to aid learning and support the students’ individual needs. E
Whitemore Park Primary School
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