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Six Bristol schools in £100 million rebuilding programme
Thousands of secondary students in Bristol are to benefit from a massive development programme that will see five secondary schools rebuilt and a new special school constructed.
Bristol Local Education Partnership (LEP) has signed contracts with Bristol City Council for the £100 million programme that will complete the transformation of the city’s schools for students aged 11 to 18.
A new building will be provided for Florence Brown Special School in Knowle while the secondary schools will be extensively rebuilt and extended. They are Ashton Park, Cotham, St Bede’s, St Bernadette and St. Mary Redcliffe and Temple School.
A special ceremony to mark the launch of development at all six sites was held at St. Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Somerset Square BS1 6RT on Friday 1 May.
Construction is now under way on the sites and will be completed during 2010-2011. The LEP, City Council and Skanska are working closely together to ensure that the work has minimal impact on students, staff and surrounding communities.
It’s the second big wave of school development for the LEP, which has already completed four new secondary schools under the Government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme – Bristol Brunel Academy, Bristol Metropolitan College, Brislington Enterprise College and The Bridge Learning Campus.
The LEP is a partnership of the City Council, Partnerships for Schools – the BSF delivery body – and Skanska, one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups.
Paul Shadbolt, General Manager of the LEP, said: “This is a great day for Bristol – we’re delighted to be launching the next wave of new schools. We are developing schools that will help to radically transform teaching and learning for students, staff and local communities.”
Cllr Clare Campion-Smith, Bristol City Council Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “This contract marks the final phase in the complete transformation of Bristol's secondary schools. Unrecognisable from just a few years ago, facilities in our schools will be among the best in the country. We are already seeing signs of increased confidence in our secondary schools and these excellent facilities, alongside rising standards, will help more parents choose Bristol schools.”
Ashton Park School
A refurbishment and extension of a secondary school in South-west Bristol – a Centre for Excellence in Sport. In a phased project, some students and staff will move into temporary accommodation while 50-year-old teaching blocks are demolished to make way for a new three-storey block with rooms specially deigned for art and science. There will also be linkage between the new and existing buildings to provide better communication across the site.
Cotham School
A refurbishment and extension of a secondary school in North Bristol. – a Specialist Performing Arts College. The redevelopment will be in stages and provide a new block for art, design & technology and science. It also involves refurbishing the existing 1930s grammar school building described as “architecturally important”.
St Bede’s Catholic College
A refurbishment and extension of a secondary school in North-west Bristol – a Specialist School for Science and Sport. An existing sports hall and buildings for design & technology and music will be demolished and replaced by a new sports hall with changing rooms and a two-storey building for design & technology, art, music and drama. An existing science block will be refurbished and a new science laboratory added, and some classrooms and the library will be refurbished.
St Bernadette School
A refurbishment and extension of a Catholic secondary school in South Bristol – a Specialist School for Maths and Computing. Existing temporary buildings will be removed and an old drama studio demolished. A new two-storey building will provide facilities for art, drama and music, including a recording studio. An existing building will be gutted and turned into a new science block, bringing together a scattered faculty. A new Learning Resource Centre will be built adjoining the existing ICT area, and a new dining area opening on to an outdoor dining space will be created.
St. Mary Redcliffe & Temple School
A refurbishment and extension of a Church of England Voluntary Aided secondary school in central Bristol – a Humanities Specialist School with other specialisms in the education of gifted and talent students and teacher training. The main school block dating from the 1960s has ‘concrete cancer’ and will be demolished. A new teaching block on four levels will be built to wrap around existing buildings, with a covered street linking the existing buildings with the new. Much-needed new music facilities will be created, as well as facilities for arts, English, maths, science and technology.
Florence Brown Community School
A new building and extension of a special school for 110 students aged eight to 18 from across Bristol. The development will provide a new single-storey building with a hydrotherapy pool and sports hall, and also vocational training facilities and external sports facilities.
