From 6 July 2011, Bradford’s residents will be able to see a new school emerging on the horizon as more than 800 tonnes of steel arrives to be craned in to position at the Appleton Academy school site in Wyke.
The academy sponsored by Bradford College, which will provide places for more than 1400 pupils, received confirmation from the government in June that the £26.5million funding to build the new school was in place. £6.5million of this funding has been provided by Bradford Council to provide library and primary school facilities. Construction is now well underway on the 11,000m2 facility which will open to pupils in October 2012.
The academy will be unique within Yorkshire, being the first through-age school in the region sponsored by a Further Education college and therefore bringing together all sectors of education in one school.
The new building will accommodate the entire school age range from nursery pupils through to sixth form on a single site. This will enable pupils from all age ranges to benefit from the schools facilities, and will allow for a seamless transition through key learning phases. The construction of the building will allow each ‘age’ to have its own entrance and identity.
A prominent feature of the building will be facilities that are also available for the whole community. A brand-new library facility will be available to the public, alongside new sports and ICT facilities.
The new building has been developed by Integrated Bradford and is being designed and constructed by National Contractor FMP Limited, with the involvement of a number of large regional sub-contractors. This means that a significant percentage of people working on the construction are being employed locally.
FMP have provided tours of the site to pupils who will be attending the new school. The pupils who have toured the site have feed back their experience to other pupils in a newsletter they have produced.
Coun Ralph Berry, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services said: “The academy will be a hugely important development. Not only will it provide transformational learning for pupils of all ages, the use of local labour in the construction, and the provision of community learning facilities will provide a welcome boost to the regeneration of the area.”
Dwayne Saxton, Principal of Appleton Academy said “This is a really exciting day for us. This building will be an exemplar learning environment for pupils and hub for the community. It will mean we can provide inspiring and inclusive learning for all ages. It is fantastic that we are underway and making such good progress.”
Michele Sutton, Principal of Bradford College, the academy sponsor said: “Getting to this point has involved many people including parents, pupils, staff and our partners such as Bradford Council. This is an excellent example of how successful partnership working in the District can develop first class learning facilities.”
