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Work starts on new North London SEND school

Work has begun on a new £22m ‘ultra-sustainable’ special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in North London as demand for places in the borough has soared over the past decade.

The site will provide an additional 150 places in Brent to help prevent children having to be sent to schools outside of the borough.

Brent Council has appointed construction company REDS10 to build Wembley Manor School on London Road, which is expected to open its doors to pupils in September next year. The ‘state-of-the-art’ specialist school has been specifically designed for neurodivergent children.

Part of Brent’s SEND capital investment programme, Wembley Manor School is expected to deliver over 400 SEND places across the borough by 2025. It aims to reduce the need to send children to schools outside of the borough and the council expects to save up to £6m a year against the Dedicated School Grant.

The number of pupils in Brent who have special educational, health, and social care plans (EHCP) has risen by almost 15 per cent since 2020, compared with just over 10 per cent nationally. With this expected to continue rising over the next few years, there is a need to create more spaces in the borough.

Due to the lack of available places in the borough, there were 576 children and young people educated outside of Brent in 2021, with 180 in independent special schools, costing £7.2 million a year.

In the same year, there were 2,784 children and young people in Brent with EHCPs, which includes under fives up to those aged 25. By 2027, this number is expected to rise to 4,932, according to a government survey. This increase will have a significant impact on the demand for SEND school places.

Designed to be BREEAM Outstanding – the highest sustainability rating – the school will provide SEND teaching spaces, external play areas, sports facilities, as well as car parking and drop-off facilities. It will be manufactured at Reds10’s offsite factory facility in East Yorkshire before being transported to London Road to be assembled on-site.

Cabinet member for children and young people, Cllr Gwen Grahl, said: “Wembley Manor will be a much-needed school providing specialist SEND provision for neurodivergent children. […] This school will mean more children can be educated closer to home, providing better accessibility and stronger community networks.”

She added: “We have seen increasing demand for special provision in the borough, with the number of children needing education, health and care plans increasing by around 10 per cent every year over the past decade. Around 40 per cent of these children have an autism spectrum disorder.”

Source: LondonWorld

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BAM finalises £71m deal to replace first major RAAC school

BAM has finally agreed a £71m contract price with the Department for Education to cover the first major RAAC concrete school rebuild.

St Leonards Catholic School in Durham will be rebuilt to the west of the school site, replacing the existing disused and RAAC-affected buildings once demolished.

The 110,000 sq ft three-storey school will include sports, assembly and dining halls and a wide range of departments, including specialist teaching spaces for art, technology and music at ground floor level.

The existing Springwell Hall will be reconfigured, refurbished and utilised as part of the redeveloped campus. The existing Sixth Form building will also be retained.

Ryder Architecture designed the new school that was originally expected to cost around £46m to deliver.

The new building is hoped to be ready for occupation during 2026.

Source: Construction Enquirer

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£1.3m invested in new school building The Eastbrook Centre

Gloucestershire County Council has invested around £1.3 million in The Eastbrook Centre, a new site for Gloucestershire’s alternative provision school.

The Altus School is an alternative provision for children and young people who have struggled in a mainstream setting and have been, or are at risk of being, permanently excluded. There are six centres across the county providing education for different age ranges and needs.

Staff at the new Eastbrook Centre, for up to 48 Year 10 and 11 pupils, work with the young people and their families to support them to either complete their education at the Altus School through GCSEs or vocational qualifications, or to return to a mainstream school.

The county council spent around £1.3 million to buy and refurbish the centre, which was previously used as an independent school, to provide improved facilities like a science lab, art room, and specialist food technology and catering facilities.

Cllr Philip Robinson, cabinet member for education and bus transport at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “Improving the SEND and alternative provision offer for young people in the county is one of our top priorities. We’ve invested around £1.3 million in this new centre to support some of our most vulnerable young people back into education.

“Over the last few years, we have transformed our alternative provision to focus on earlier intervention and outreach work with pupils in mainstream schools who could be at risk of exclusion, to support them to remain and thrive in their current school.”

Emma Gundry, director of alternative provision and headteacher at The Altus School, said: “We have a fantastic team of dedicated staff who work with our pupils to support them to overcome some of the challenges they have had at school; to build relationships with them and support them to engage positively with education.”

In September 2023, the two alternative provision schools in the county were combined into one county-wide school, The Altus School, to improve the consistency and quality of the provision, focus on earlier intervention, and improve the facilities in alternative provision.

Source: Punchline

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Fresh plans for multi-million pound 82-pupil Stoke-on-Trent school building

Fresh plans have been lodged for a new multi-million pound development for pupils with special educational needs on a demolished former school site. Stoke-on-Trent City Council wants to transform the old Middlehurst School site, in Chell, which closed 10 years ago.

The proposal would see a new SEN school building constructed to provide much-needed facilities for the nearby Watermill School, which ‘operates above its current capacity’. The vandal-plagued former school was demolished back in 2022, a year after the local authority secured £7.5 million of Government funding for the proposed development.

Similar plans, which included a sports hall, were then lodged and rubber-stamped in January 2023. However, revised proposals have now been put forward.

The planning application states that the new satellite facility will cater for 82 pupils aged between seven and 16 years old. Eight classrooms will be created along with a suite of specialist teaching spaces and staff facilities.

The new development would provide 71 car parking spots as well as seven disability spaces. It is hoped that, if the plans are approved, building work could begin by the end of the year with the development completed by around mid-2026.

The design and access statement says: “The current Watermill School is a SEN school and is located off Turnhurst Road. The school was part of the former BSF programme and was built at the same time and adjacent to the Ormiston Horizon Academy approximately 10 years ago.

“The existing Watermill School operates above its current capacity and has limited scope for extension on its exiting site. However, the Authority has suitable nearby land to develop a satellite provision which has been an element of the Authority’s long-standing strategy to retain former education land for potential future provision in this way.

“The main satellite expansion to Watermill School is a long established plan to bring back into use for SEN provision land formerly used for the Middlehurst Special School (prior to its closure on the formation of Watermill School).”

Members of the council’s planning committee are expected to approve the application next week.

Source: Stoke-on-Trent Live

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St Cecilia’s RC High School opens new building

A special blessing and service was held by school staff and pupils to officially open the new Saint Carlo Acutis building at St Cecilia’s RC High School, Longridge, Preston.

Local Priest from Alston Lane Parish Canon H Doyle and the Chair of Governors, Mr M Flynn, performed the official blessing and cutting of the ribbon.

Four new classrooms were built, along with three further internal classrooms modified, to manage a huge increase in demand for school places in the Longridge area – increasing St Cecilia’s intake from 97 to 120 pupils per year group.

St Cecilia’s is oversubscribed in every year group and is a thriving ‘outstanding’ Catholic high School. For two years in a row, we have celebrated the best GCSE results the school has ever seen.

The building project was constructed by local contractors W.M. Monks of Longridge.

Headteacher, Mrs H Hall, said: “The new building extension will make such a huge difference to what we can offer pupils, parents and the community at our school.”

Source: St Cecilia’s RC High School

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Bellway delivers new building for Kennett Primary School

Staff and pupils at Kennett Primary School have moved into a new purpose-built building within a housing development being delivered by home construction company Bellway.

The new school, off Howe Hill Road in Kennett Garden Village, has eight classrooms, each with their own outside space, a dedicated science, technology, engineering and mathematics space, playing fields and a staff car park.

Kennett Garden Village is a sustainable, high-quality neighbourhood which has been planned to include 500 homes as well as large areas of green open space and community infrastructure. Bellway Eastern Counties is building 160 homes within The Ferns at Kennett Garden Village, while Ashberry Homes — part of the Bellway Group — is delivering 164 homes at Lark’s Place at Kennett Garden Village.

The new school was funded by developer contributions. In total, Bellway contributed £4.5m to the project.

Scott Horsley, headteacher at Kennett Primary School, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Bellway for the significant part they have played in making this dream move to a new school building come true. It really is a fantastic space for members of our school community.

“Everyone is very excited about our new chapter in this fabulous new building and location, which was designed with input from us here at the school.

“The school’s former site was built in 1865, and it is with some sadness that we leave our original building behind. Through the curriculum, we have investigated historical events that have taken place since 1865; this has given our children a better understanding of chronology and the history of the place we have moved from.”

Eastern Counties sales manager Marrissa Gale said: “We are proud to have played a role in the delivery of a new custom-built school to give children in the village the best start to their education. It is good to know that the pupils will be studying in, and the staff teaching in, a modern environment which has been specifically designed to suit their needs.

“There were no playing fields on the former school site and Scott has told us that the staff and pupils are all excited about being able to get out to enjoy sport as part of the curriculum much more easily.

“The school fields at the new school site also feature an all-weather walking track around the space so that all of the children can enjoy exercise outside even through the winter months.”

Source: In Your Area

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Essex pupils welcomed into new net zero school

The first pupils at Limebrook Primary School are settling in after Morgan Sindall Construction’s Essex business handed the keys to Essex County Council at the start of the school year. 

The project was granted through the Essex County Council framework as part of the South Maldon Garden Suburb development – a site that boasts planning permission to deliver up to 1,000 homes, as well as retail space, green spaces and allotments, and sports and playing fields. Taylor Wimpey has been on site for five years at Handley Gardens and provided the serviced land where the school was built.

The tier one contractor has delivered 13 classrooms, a practical room, a studio, and an SEN room, accommodating 420 children in total, with the addition of a new nursery with capacity of 56 places for 0-4 year olds.

Pupils can also enjoy a large sports field, multi-use, hard-court games area, a habitat area, and wildflower meadows on-site, while parents will benefit from a car park with electric vehicle chargers.

Limebrook Primary School is set to deliver net-zero in operation by utilising Photovoltaic (PV) panels and air-source heat pumps which streamline energy efficiency, while the implemented mechanical and natural ventilation strategy and airtightness of the building retain a comfortable temperature for students and staff.

The project’s unique drive for sustainability continued from construction to completion. Through use of the data-driven tool CarboniCa, Morgan Sindall reduced carbon emissions by over 90%, utilising responsibly sourced, palm-oil-free HVO during the development work instead of diesel. By continuing Morgan Sindall’s award-winning 10 Tonne Challenge, the project saved 290.4 tonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent of heating over 107 UK homes for a whole year.

Throughout the school’s construction, the project team engaged with the local community in Maldon to deliver social value where it is most needed. This included employment of local scaffolding, brick-laying, and roofing contractors to bring the project to life.

In line with its Intelligent Solutions approach, Morgan Sindall has utilised BAMTech reinforcement which enhanced the structure’s strength and speed of construction. The school also features a steel frame with a mix of brickwork and Cedral Click cladding, boosting energy efficiency and durability.

Ryan Liversage, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Essex, said: “It is a huge accomplishment to hand over the keys to this new net-zero school. Not only has our hard work created an exceptional learning environment for Maldon’s next generation, but our sustainability initiatives continue to lead the way to a greener future for both construction and education.

“Limebrook Primary School’s success is testament to the great results of our collaboration with Essex County Council, and we can’t wait for the children to enjoy their new school in September.”

Councillor Tony Ball, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning, and Employability, said: “This is an exciting moment for the council and the local community. The new school provides much needed school places in the area following an increase in new homes and the focus on net-zero is reflective of the council’s commitment to tackling climate change in Essex through sustainable construction. I can’t wait to hear how pupils are enjoying their new school.”

David Pelle, Land and Planning Director for Taylor Wimpey, said: “Schools, shops and other facilities are essential to creating new communities, so we are delighted to see that Limebrook Primary School is now open. We’re proud to have worked alongside Morgan Sindall at the outset of this project and it’s a testament to their expertise that it has been delivered at such high quality.

“We look forward to completing further community facilities, such as the Limebrook Sports Pavilion, in the coming months.”

 

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DfE defunds school maintenance projects over ‘irregularities’

The government has withdrawn funding for “a number of projects” granted school maintenance cash through its condition improvement fund, after identifying “serious irregularities” in their applications.

The Department for Education said it had launched “detailed investigations” into some successful bids and it had taken “immediate action”.

Around 4,500 academies in small trusts, sixth form colleges and voluntary-aided schools are eligible to bid for CIF cash for smaller maintenance projects, while bigger trusts and local authorities receive direct SCA funding.

Successful applicants for CIF funding for the 2024-25 year were informed in March, but the government then put some on hold to probe their applications further.

Some schools have now been told their projects will no longer be funded. The DfE has not said how many projects this affects, nor has it named the schools affected.

The department said it had invoked clause 23.1 in its grant funding agreement.

This states that bidders “must have regard to the need to ensure that” small and medium employers and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations “are given fair, equal and proportionate access to any contracting opportunity”.

A DfE spokesperson said the government was “committed to ensuring that the school funding system is fit for purpose to ensure all schools receive the support they need to give every child the best life chances, whilst protecting taxpayers’ money.

“Following detailed investigations, we have taken immediate action to terminate funding to a number of projects in the condition improvement fund where serious irregularities had been identified within their applications.”

The spokesperson added the government had “strengthened our guidance to further protect schools and taxpayer funding from such risk and this government are committed to reviewing the system going forward”.

The guidance for 2025-26 has “introduced a new declaration for CIF 2025-26 that the accounting officer, or in the case of a sixth-form college or VA school a member of the senior management team, will need to read, print, sign and upload on the CIF portal with any CIF application”.

“This is to acknowledge their responsibility for the application, the management of any successful project, and meeting the requirements of the post approval guidance and complying with the terms and conditions.”

Schools that have had funding withdrawn “can apply for urgent capital support funding provided they meet the criteria”.

Source: Schools Week

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Exciting Times at Breathing Buildings as Company Strides Ahead in Indoor Air Quality

 

Breathing Buildings, a leading provider of controlled natural and hybrid ventilation systems, is striding ahead in indoor air quality (IAQ) with three exciting developments. Firstly, the company has led the way in innovation by recently celebrating winning ‘Commercial/ Industrial Ventilation Product of the Year’ category at the prestigious HVR Awards 2024. The company won the award with its new NVHRe, Natural Ventilation with Heat Recycling and Heat Recovery (NVHRe), which is the latest addition to its award-winning range of Natural Ventilation with Heat Recycling (NVHR®) systems. Secondly, building on this success, the company has invested in a new Business Development Director, Matthew Cooper to help grow the Breathing Buildings brand providing industry leading ventilation solutions. Thirdly, Breathing Buildings is exhibiting for the first time in Ireland at the Education Buildings Ireland Exhibition.

 

Breathing Buildings scooped the Commercial/Industrial Ventilation Product of the Year award at a glittering awards ceremony on Thursday 12th September at London’s Chelsea Harbour Hotel. Breathing Buildings won the award for its innovative NVHRe, which raises the bar on energy efficient ventilation. Marking the next step in hybrid ventilation technology, the key difference between Breathing Buildings’ original NVHR® range and the new innovative Natural Ventilation with Heat Recycling and Heat Recovery (NVHRe) is an addition of a low resistance heat exchanger cell within the unit. This allows the unit to benefit from both heat recycling and heat recovery, reclaiming even more heat than previous models, saving more energy, providing great occupant comfort, and allowing users to include it within the building energy assessments (SBEM).

 

Keen to raise the importance of energy efficient ventilation and the benefits of good IAQ in buildings, Breathing Buildings is excited to have welcomed a new member to its team. Matthew Cooper joins Breathing Buildings as Business Development Director. With over 15 years’ experience within the HVAC industry, Matthew comes with drive and enthusiasm to help steer the team to even more wins.

Matthew Cooper, Business Development Manager

 

 

On joining Matthew said “I’m super excited to join the team and it appears to be perfect timing with our new NVHRe winning the Commercial/ Ventilation Product of the Year at the HVR Awards in my second week of joining! I’m eager to go out and about, meeting customers, gaining new contacts and helping grow the Breathing Buildings brand.”

 

 

Expanding its brand presence beyond the UK, Breathing Building is exhibiting in Ireland for the first time at Education Buildings Ireland Exhibition on 6-7 November 2024, collaborating with Lindab on Stand 519 at RDS Dublin, Hall 2. At the exhibition, the company is hoping to share the wealth of experience it has on how to improve IAQ in schools. The event is organised in partnership with the Government of Ireland and comprises a 2-day multi-stream conference and an exhibition. The aim of all those involved is to create high-quality learning environments for all students and learners. IAQ is recognised as an important part of this goal.

 

The focus on indoor air quality in schools is not new. Prior to the pandemic there was already an increasing awareness of how indoor environments impact our health and wellbeing. In the UK ventilation guidance for schools already existed in the form of Building Bulletin 101 (BB101). The document’s last revision, the 2018 edition of BB101: ‘Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ looks at the key design elements of modern ventilation systems in schools. The document sets out requirements for schools to improve ventilation to help create a healthy and comfortable environment that will help improve children’s learning outcomes. Breathing Buildings is now hoping to offer its help to improve learning environments in Ireland too by enhancing IAQ.

 

“It is exciting times at Breathing Buildings at the moment. Not only did we win the ‘Commercial/Industrial Ventilation Product of the Year’ category with our NVHRe at the prestigious HVR Awards 2024 but we have been shortlisted for the H&V News Awards’ ‘Commercial HVAC Product of the Year – Ventilation’ category too, and we are looking forward to the event that will be held on 28th November.

We also welcome our new Business Development Director, Matthew Cooper who has joined the team with 15 years of industry experience and is focussed on helping grow the Breathing Buildings brand,” said Alexis Roberts, Brand Manager at Breathing Buildings.

 

 

The company’s award-winning NVHRe offers the lowest energy consumption for a hybrid heat recovery ventilation unit in the industry, the NVHRe combines 46% heat recovery efficiency with low Specific Fan Power (SFP) of 0.075 W/l/s to help maximise a building’s energy savings. In addition, the NVHRe has several different operating modes to minimise energy use, enhance IAQ and improve occupant comfort. An intelligent hybrid system, the unit automatically decides when and if mechanical operation is required, ensuring it only operates when absolutely necessary.

 

Providing excellent thermal comfort and enhanced IAQ, the NVHRe is designed to suit a diverse range of commercial and public buildings with high heat gains, such as schools, colleges, leisure centres, offices, theatres and even churches. The inclusion of the low resistant aluminium cross plate heat exchanger to the unit lowers energy costs by reducing the reliance on space heating to maintain thermal comfort in a room. It operates during colder external temperatures, typically below 7ºC when mixing recycled air alone is not enough to maintain the desired temperature for occupants.

 

The range also includes units that can be the primary source of heat; needing no radiators, as well as a system that can offer further cooling. The British designed and manufactured units come in three models with product variations to suit every need with the standard NVHRe 1100 an NVHRe+ 1100 which includes a heating coil and is ideal for buildings in cooler areas; and an NVHRe C+ 1100 which features a heating and cooling coil for year-round comfort and full temperature control.

 

The NVHRe hybrid ventilation system’s ultra-efficient facade-based mixing ventilation allows single-sided, enhanced natural and hybrid ventilation in deep plan spaces whilst making the most of internal heat gains, with the addition of heat recovery to deliver superb thermal comfort and IAQ. Hybrid ventilation focuses on the vital balance of IAQ, thermal comfort, and efficiency by choosing the most appropriate mode of ventilation based on the internal and external conditions, allowing the NVHRe to be in the most energy efficient mode possible at all stages.

 

Allowing low-energy hybrid natural ventilation, even in buildings with limited facade and roof space, highly efficient mixing fans mitigate cold draughts in winter and provide a ventilation boost in summer, with the addition of heat recovery to bolster winter thermal comfort, minimising the need for a primary source of heating for the space, in return reducing energy costs. Supplied with an external temperature sensor, and an internal temperature and CO2 sensor, as well as an intelligent controller the system monitors conditions to create an ideal indoor environment, boosting both productivity and wellbeing.

 

Breathing Buildings’ multi-award-winning natural ventilation with heat recycling (NVHR®) range won the Energy Efficient Product of the Year Award at the prestigious Energy Awards, and also recently won three awards for providing ventilation to the East Anglian Air Ambulance project with the Breathing Buildings’ NVHR® range.

CLICK HERE

For further information on NVHR®, NVHRe and E-stack ventilation,

as well as other products and services offered by Breathing Buildings

or call us on 01223 450 060

 

 

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Leading modular manufacturer supports record number of students

Premier Modular, a leading offsite manufacturer, is celebrating a record-breaking year for providing hire buildings to the education sector, increasing its turnover threefold compared to the previous year.

During the 2023/4 period, the company has successfully supported nearly 5,700 students across the country through the provision of 22,500m2 of temporary classroom space. This is the equivalent to the size of over 80 tennis courts across 20 schools, ranging from primary up to university, for up to three years.

Premier Modular has played a central role in helping schools and educational estates achieve their building improvement goals in line with the School Rebuilding Programme and in response to growing student intake numbers.

Over the last academic year, the company provided over 120 standard classrooms and 70 specialist classrooms (a total of 1,300 modules), in addition to libraries and high specification SEND classrooms.

Each project was delivered in a matter of weeks, and the temporary classrooms ensured high quality environments that minimised disruption to student learning. With major works undertaken across estates, the rental buildings ensured that construction work didn’t disrupt day-to-day learning, improved safety outcomes and allowed the long-term works to continue uninterrupted.

Modular classrooms also play a crucial role in assisting schools to meet government-mandated sustainability goals. Able to be re-used and repurposed once their initial use is complete, the buildings create a circular economy that minimises the embodied carbon of the education sector as a whole.

Mark Rooney, Rental Divisional Director, Premier Modular, said: “We’re extremely proud to have contributed to the learning experience of thousands of students over the last year. Our record achievement for the number of hire buildings to the education sector reflects a commitment to supporting the upcoming generation with adaptable learning spaces when they’re needed most, whilst ensuring that schools are on track to reach sustainability targets by creating a circular economy.”

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