The £7m new school, built by East Sussex County Council on land between Thomas Peacocke Community College and the Love Lane allotments, has replaced Tilling Green Infant School and The Freda Gardham Community School and is providing up to 330 places for pupils.
Parents and families have been invited to have a look around the new school on Friday 5 September and then on Monday 8 September pupils begin lessons.
Providing a range of services for young families, the old Children’s Centre based in The Freda Gardham Community School has also been replaced with a brand new building next to the new primary school.
Councillor Keith Glazier, the County Council’s Lead Member for Children’s and Adults’ Services, said: “Like any major building project this has not been without its difficulties and it has been a race against time to get the school ready to open at the start of the new school year. There will, of course, be a short period of time of bedding into the new buildings, but I am delighted pupils can start to use this wonderful new facility.”
He added: “This is a bit of history for Rye and it really is an extremely exciting project. The town really has really needed this new school which will provide a much better learning environment. It’s a state-of-the-art building, and together with the new Children’s Centre, will be a superb 21st Century resource for the community.”
The new school’s head teacher, Paul Reilly said: “After so much planning, discussion and building it is wonderful that we’re able to open this fantastic new building to its first set of pupils. It’s great to be in such modern and new facilities and will give us the best surroundings in which to provide the young people of Rye with the best possible start to their education.”
Work on the new school and Children’s Centre buildings began in July 2007 shortly after planning permission was granted. More than two years work had gone into the proposals and the local community and existing schools were consulted by the County Council at various stages.
The new primary school has been built by local construction company Morgan Ashurst. The firm’s project manager James Roberts said: “We are delighted that pupils and staff can start enjoying their new school. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on this project as the school means so much to so many local people.”
He adds: “The school boasts a number of environmentally-friendly features designed to reduce the building’s long-term running costs. These include a special energy usage monitor which will encourage children to use energy efficiently. Other features include a green roof, ground source heat pump, wind catchers, high levels of insulation, low energy light fittings and natural ventilation. This means all of Rye’s pupils will be doing their bit to help reduce the town’s carbon footprint.”
An official opening of the new school will take place later in the year.
Notes to editors
The new school and Children’s Centre has been built on a raised platform above the highest predicted flood level. Its modern design has been built to the latest Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and County Council specifications and includes several environmentally-friendly features including a green Sedum roof, high levels of insulation and low energy light fittings.
It has also been assessed under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). A ground source heat pump, funded through the County Council’s sustainability fund, has been installed which will provide a minimum of 20% of the school’s heating.
The site meets DCSF requirements in terms of both internal and external space and the two-storey design enables the best use of the available land. It also features a two-storey corridor to give natural lighting and ventilation throughout.
A new pathway, cycleway and footbridge is creating a route to the west side of the school to help keep road traffic to a minimum. The Sports Centre car park has being redesigned to enable use for dropping off at the school and parking for staff.
The scheme was commissioned by the Children’s Services Department and procured by the Corporate Resources Department of East Sussex County Council. The architects are NPS Property Consultants Ltd and Morgan Ashurst, formerly Bluestone plc, are the main contractors.
Morgan Ashurst is a leading full-service construction business with more than 2,000 employees in the UK. Supported by a national network of local offices, the company works for private and public sector clients on projects from £50,000 to over £300 million. Morgan Ashurst’s construction activities range from small works, repair and maintenance services to large-scale complex projects across the commercial, defence, education, healthcare, industrial and manufacturing sectors. It is part of top five UK construction and regeneration group Morgan Sindall plc which operates through five specialist divisions of fit out, construction, infrastructure services, affordable housing and urban regeneration. For more information on Morgan Ashurst contact Liz Coyle-Camp or Lyndsay Scanlan – tel: 01747 871752 or email:
lyndsay@emc2publicrelations.com.
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