On course to complete £4m school

Pupils are on course to move into their new £4.1m school in September after the final brick was laid on Wednesday.

Work now starts on finishing the interior and the outside play areas of the new Bishop Alexander Primary School, Wolsey Road, Newark.

Building work started in September and work on site, including demolishing the old buildings, should be completed by October.

The building, on the same site as the old school, will have nine classrooms with interactive white boards, five group work rooms, a medical room, social area and an area where teachers can prepare for lessons.

There will be a community area with a kitchen and IT facilities, which will be open out of school hours. The school hall will also be available for clubs and groups.

Outside there are plans for three play areas and a large multi-use games area, which could be used by the community.

The existing school was built in 1955 using materials from a second world war munitions factory in Bristol.

The new school has a sustainable timber frame and will have wood pellet boilers, tanks to collect and reuse rain water, and high levels of insulation.

The last brick was laid by the builders at a ceremony attended by county councillor Mr Chris Baron, the head, Mr Clive Richardson and pupils Ellie Jones (6) and Georgia McGowan (6) who were chosen because of their good behaviour.

Speaking of the new building, Mr Richardson said: “It will be nice for the children because they deserve something better than what they’ve got.”

He hoped to gain permission for a larger all-weather games area than they had originally planned.

He said: “We would like to have an games area big enough to be approved by the Football Association so we can hold men’s football matches for local teams.

“There are so many football teams around here and there aren’t many places to play matches.”

Mr Baron, the cabinet member for finance and property, thought the new building would help children to get a better standard of education.