Pupils prepare for new pastures
Work on the flagship North Leamington Community School and Arts College is nearing completion ahead of pupils starting lessons in the new school in September.
Workmen are putting the finishing touches to the new £30 million ‘school for the 21st century’ which will be the new standard-bearer for Warwickshire schools and the most eco-friendly school ever built in the county.
The school will accommodate 1,500 11-18 year olds and is located at the Sandy Lane end of the current main school site.
Forty year 9 pupils have been trained as school ambassadors and have recently been giving parents and others visiting the site guided tours.
The entire school community has been involved along every step of the way with the new build. Pupils have shared their ideas, helped to design the new school logo and taken part in decision making about various aspects of the new school.
Warwickshire County Council has worked closely in partnership with the school to create the building, which has three faculty blocks, a sports centre and a main building ‘hub’.
The new school facilities will provide extended services access up to 10pm for the local community and bookings for sports provision and theatre are already nearly full for the next academic year.
The site has been designed as a spacious campus incorporating environmentally-friendly features such as natural ventilation and green roofs, which are covered with alpine plants to aid drainage and encourage wildlife biodiversity.
David Hazeldine, Headteacher at North Leamington Community School and Arts College, said: “I still find it hard to believe that after ten years of planning and hard work the vision for a new North Leamington School is soon to become reality.
"I love the new building on two levels; as well as the excellent facilities such as the sports grounds and state of the art theatre the architecture and landscaping creates an amazing sense of space with the feeling of a small campus university. Learning in this environment will be great preparation for the pupils’ futures.”
Miller Construction (one of Warwickshire County Council’s Framework Contractors) started work on the site in September 2007. It was designed locally by Warwick-based Robotham Architecture.
Features include a 400-seat theatre, large sports hall, full-size all-weather surface, an adult learning/sixth-form centre and the four separate specialist faculty buildings for Maths and Science, Languages and Humanities and Art, and Design and Technology and Engineering.