The new Fernwood Suthers School building takes shape for 2020 opening
The new secondary school at Fernwood is taking shape ahead of its planned opening next spring.
The Suthers School will serve its own students and the wider community.
Building work began in February this year and is due to be completed for the start of the summer term in April.
The school, which is on Fernwood Business Park, will have 830 places, including sixth-form provision for 230 students.
It will have a bus drop-off point and staff parking on site, allowing safe access to the school for road users.
A dedicated pedestrian arrival space and bike parking will offer greener transport options for all users.
The school will have two full-size football pitches and two multi-use games areas for oudoor sport.
There will be a sheltered quad for bad weather, and a kitchen garden is proposed.
The site will have environmentally-friendly water management systems, with permeable surfaces, bio-swales and balancing ponds.
To the west, a bank will be constructed to manage traffic noise from the A1 and planted with native species creating a green corridor.
The north and east boundaries will be planted with British hedgerow species and meadow grasses to maintain the semi-rural nature of the site, and the playing fields will be bordered by mesh fencing.
The school will have a balanced range of subjectsn with a focus on an academic curriculum plus creative-, sports- and design-based complimentary subjects.
The school has been designed to provide a sense of openness and welcome. Its facilities will include a main hall with tiered seats and theatrical lighting, and drama, music, art, design, technology and food teaching spaces on the same floor, plus changing rooms, sports hall and activity studio.
These will be available to the community after school hours, providing a new resource for sport, leisure and life-long learning.
On the first floor, there are post-16 study and social areas, a library, English and maths, and ICT areas.
The second floor will house science, humanities and language classrooms.
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