Sir Frederick Gibberd College in Harlow is often a favourite amongst parents
An Essex school that parents are desperate to send their children to and is often over-subscribed wants to knock down a building. Plans have been submitted to demolish part of a disused building at Sir Frederick Gibberd College in Harlow.
Harlow school’s partial redevelpoment
The school on Tendring Road, Harlow has unveiled the plans for the construction of a replacement teaching block and new sixth form block. The proposals include partial redevelopment of the existing school buildings to accommodate 1,700 pupils aged 12 to 18 years, comprising a 1,200-place secondary school and a 500-place sixth form.
The works include the demolition of the disused teaching and sixth-form block, and the construction of replacement new-build teaching and sixth-form blocks.
The plans state: “The project addresses the urgent need to replace the school’s disused teaching and sixth-form accommodation block with high-quality, permanent educational facilities that meet modern building and safety standards.
“The specification places strong emphasis on the quality of the learning environment, particularly in terms of daylighting and ventilation. The brief also included a feasibility scheme, which set out the overall strategy of dividing the accommodation into two blocks, one comprising sixth form and library, the other main block comprising the bulk of the teaching spaces for the school.”
Sir Frederick Gibberd College opened in September 2019 and teachers students from age 11 to 19. In its latest Ofsted report published in January 2025, it was rated as ‘requires improvement’ in three areas and ‘good’ in two.
The report from the educational watchdog said that pupils are ‘highly resilient’, having ‘weathered the storm of learning in marquees and other schools’ while it was closed.
Source: https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/harlow-school-parents-desperate-send-11209764
Image: Jestico and Whiles, Bowmer& Kirkland