A £12 million new-build school in Buckinghamshire that accommodates the needs of the academy’s cadet force has opened its doors for the first time.
Sir Thomas Fremantle School in Winslow is now home to 400 students within the Year 7 to Year 11 age groups after students and staff spent the first four years of the school’s life in a temporary building at the Winslow Centre.
Kier Construction built the new 5,320 sq m building, designed by van Heyningen & Haward Architects, that cost £12 million from the Education Funding Agency.
Prestige Civil and Sports won the contract for all groundworks, drainage, floor slab and services plus a type 3 MUGA (multi-use games area) sports pitch.
Sports fencing manufacturer Zaun Limited supplied 3m high Duo8 Sports fencing for the combined tennis and netball court and 4.8m high Super Rebound panels for the MUGA, which includes integral floodlight posts to maximise usage.
The design of the school maximises accessibility to amenities for community use as well as providing exemplary teaching facilities, particularly in the areas of sport and ICT.
It is focused around a welcoming central entrance foyer, creating a vibrant ‘hub’ giving access to performance and sports facilities for the school and local community.
The school will welcome more students in September when its new sixth form unit opens. Head teacher Darren Lyon said he had received very positive feedback from students since the new building opened: “We have five science laboratories, a food technology room and a performance hall.
“We also have a four-court sports hall, a miniature 3G football pitch, tennis and netball courts and a dance studio.”
Other additional facilities are more classrooms, a café and dedicated lecture spaces and storage for the school’s RAF Combined Cadet Force.
