Current school building projects
These projects are part of our multi-million pound infrastructure programme to expand education buildings.
A new primary school to serve a housing development in Colchester
We anticipated that a housing development at Lakelands in Colchester would need a new primary school. Our School Organisation Service began investigations in September 2018 with a public consultation. This allowed plenty of time to deliver a solution for when it would be needed.
Lakelands Primary School is a 420 place (2FE) academy located on the southeast side of Stanway in Colchester. It will provide much-needed primary school provision for local residents.
The Lakelands housing development already has over 300 occupied houses. Several hundred more will be built over the next 10 years, in and around the area.
The project involves the construction of a new 2-storey building. It includes an outdoor play space, all-weather playing pitch, landscaping, cycle and scooter storage, staff parking and supporting infrastructure.
Barnes Construction commenced work on-site in October 2019. They handed over on 20 October 2020 to the Chelmsford Learning Partnership.
A significant capital investment for a popular village school in Felsted
In May 2020 we completed a new classroom building project at Felsted Primary School. It is a high-performing village school in Uttlesford district that is popular with local parents. The educational offer in this part of Essex has been further enhanced as a result of this project.
The aim was to replace poor condition temporary buildings with purpose-built accommodation. The new building provides classrooms for Key Stage 1 pupils (Reception, Years 1 and 2) and a practical classroom for all year groups. This includes a new play area that is accessible from the Reception class.
The scheme also provides accommodation for the pre-school, increasing places from 24 to 30 to cater for the growing need in the area. Along with the classroom, there is also much needed admin and kitchen areas.
Outside, the existing car park was re-surfaced and re-lined and 7 more car parking spaces were added. The ground has been top soiled and re-seeded where 3 of the 4 temporary buildings were. We will remove the remaining temporary building when 2 large classes have graduated from the school.
An innovative solution to expand three secondary schools in Essex
We have expanded 3 secondary schools in the districts of Tendring and Rochford. They are Clacton County High School, Colne High School and The Sweyne Park School.
We developed a uniform classroom design that worked for all 3 schools. We secured a fixed price through a single-stage tender process and saved more money on bulk-buying materials. Construction took place off-site, so the only disruption to the schools was during installation.
We achieved further benefits by linking the projects within the classrooms themselves. This included a uniform heating and ventilation strategy, with improved insulation values. This reduces heat loss and increases energy efficiency and offsets the operation costs for heating, ventilation, and general power.
At Sweyne Park School, children with hearing impairments can also use the classrooms. They meet the acoustic and lighting requirements set out by The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf.