Midlands & East Anglia Premier Construction

Top marks for school project

Spalding Wygate Park Academy primary school
Written by Roma Publications

Spalding Wygate Park Academy primary school

Pupils, parents and staff alike are delighted with the brand new Wygate Park Academy primary school, recently constructed in a £2.5 million project off Wygate Park in Spalding, and already proving a popular choice locally.

The school, which opened in September last year, is located in the centre of a Kier Homes housing development and was built on 2.5 acres of land donated by Kier Homes, in partnership with South Holland Council. Main Contractors for the project were local firm Langwith Construction, who, together with Kier Homes, worked to build up a good relationship with future pupils, staff and parents during the construction phase.

Wygate Park Academy headmistress Annabel O’Connell said: “We absolutely love our new school – which has been fantastic from the moment we got in. There was a need for extra school places locally due to the new housing development, which is still underway around us. We have had a lot of applications from parents who want to send their pupils here.

Spalding Wygate Park Academy primary school

“Last year, parents of new pupils took a leap of faith in sending their children here since no-one had really seen the school until we opened our doors. Fortunately none of them were disappointed and we have had some very positive feedback, with many parents attending our open day last November and reacting very positively to what they saw.

“The school building is very spacious and airy and has a lovely feel to it – for example our main hall and all the classrooms have floor to ceiling windows. We also have a lovely outdoor learning area for our reception class.”

The single storey rectangular shaped school was constructed on a greenfield site on concrete piled foundations. The building is structured in a Metsec metal walling system incorporating render and rock panel sections to the elevations, together with aluminium framed windows, curtain walling and a feature canopy to the main frontage. Roofing is a composite metal system incorporating roof-lights, as well as a section of solar panels. The building is protected by a fire sprinkler system.

Spalding Wygate Park Academy primary school

Internal accommodation includes staff offices, a kitchen, main hall, ICT suite, a community room space and seven classrooms – two of which have their own toilets.

External works included the creation of a car park, cycle shelters, bin storage, a tarmac play area and playing fields to the rear of the school. New site access was also created, as well as a bus drop off point.

School pupils were issued with hard hats and given a lesson in house building by Langwith Construction and Kier Homes, who invited 37 reception students and their teachers to spend a morning at the adjacent Kingfisher Court housing development, where they met staff and learnt about how to stay safe on building sites during a tour that included a demonstration of a forklift truck in action.

Spalding Wygate Park Academy primary school

To mark the opening of the new school, the children left their handprints in a special area of cement. Langwith Construction also provided families with gifts, with parents receiving a memory stick, newsletter, pad, pen and pen pot. The children all received a colouring book, stickers and colouring pencils.

Wygate Park Academy is operated by The Boston Witham Academies Federation, which also operates Haven High School, Carlton Road Primary School and Stanniland Primary School. Reception classes of 30 will be introduced each academic year to enable a gradual build-up of the school’s roll.

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Roma Publications