New dawn for Avon Valley
A new dawn will be breaking at the Avon Valley School when students set foot on their new school site on the first day of term.
The new £17.7 million school building has been completed on schedule and will cater for students aged 11-16 years as a Specialist College for the Performing Arts. The school, which was destroyed by fire in June 2004, has been the focus of a major construction project which started in March 2006.
The official opening for the school will be taking place later in the new school year but Headteacher, Don O’Neill, formally welcomed Year 11 students – the first to use the new site – on Wednesday 5 September.
Warwickshire County Council, in partnership with the school, has invested over £10 million in the project to provide state-of-the-art facilities including a 260-seater theatre, a learning resource centre, a suite of Performing Arts rooms and 45 teaching spaces. The crescent-shaped building connects the new two and three storey buildings to a teaching block and sports hall which survived the fire in 2004. Students have played an active role in the development and were involved in the selection process for the design of the building.
Don O’Neill, Headteacher of The Avon Valley School, said: ”This marvellous new building is richly deserved by the students, staff and local community. The new Avon Valley School presents us with a fantastic opportunity for everyone to move forward.”
Steve Smith, Head of Property at Warwickshire County Council, added: “We are delighted to be involved in designing and constructing this high quality learning facility of which the whole community can be proud. These replacement facilities reflect the needs of a 21st century learning environment and will be a real asset for future generations in Rugby.”
The partners in the project include The Avon Valley School, Warwickshire County Council, Miller Construction, Ridge Property Consultants, BBLB Architects, Hyder Consulting and PWP Building Services.
Miller Construction was the main construction partner for the scheme, and was involved in the rebuilding and redeveloping of the Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College.