Work starts on Great Yarmouth primary school

The headteacher and pupils of North Denes Primary School have celebrated with Morgan Sindall Construction by breaking ground on the new £7 million school expansion in Great Yarmouth.

The scheme, being delivered for Norfolk County Council as part of a £169 million county-wide investment to create thousands of new school places in Norfolk, will create a 420-place school for children in the north Great Yarmouth area.

The new two-storey school will have bright, modern classrooms, large sports fields and playgrounds, and a comprehensive library, to provide pupils with an inspiring and engaging learning environment.

John Stedman, framework manager at Morgan Sindall Construction in the East, said: “We are delighted to have started work on North Denes Primary School, which will help to provide pupils with the chance to access a high level of education that will help them throughout their educational journey.
“Fostering strong links with project neighbours and the wider community is incredibly important to the team, and where possible, we will be sourcing labour and materials from Great Yarmouth, helping to ensure social, economic and environmental benefits are seen by the community.
“Morgan Sindall Construction has long standing expertise in building first-class educational facilities, and we look forward to furthering our long-standing collaborative relationship with Norfolk County Council and NPS.”

Headteacher Debbie Whiting said: “I am absolutely delighted to have reached this stage. After all the planning and consultation that has gone before, it is exciting to begin to see our new school start to take shape.
The children in Great Yarmouth deserve to have a state-of-the-art school in which to learn – both those here now and future generations to come. We can’t wait to move in next year and open a new chapter for education locally.”

Cllr John Fisher, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Norfolk County Council which is funding the school extension said: “This is a fine example of how the County Council is supporting growing communities like North Yarmouth by building vital extra school places to ensure that local children can go to school in their own communities and that they are learning in modern buildings.”
“This is a really important milestone for North Yarmouth. The expansion of North Denes will mean that all primary-aged children in the North Yarmouth area have the opportunity to go to the same school together and that they’ll be learning in some of the most modern classrooms in Norfolk. I’m sure the community will enjoy watching their children benefit from the improved facilities.”

Classes will continue in the current school building while works on the project progress, with the team implementing processes such as traffic management systems and noise reduction during exams in order to minimise disruption to the school users and neighbours.
Morgan Sindall Construction has also been working closely with the building designers, Norfolk Property Services (NPS), to ensure the materials used in the build will be able to withstand the coastal elements.

The school will feature photovoltaic panels on the roof, drawing on passive environment design principals to create a naturally ventilated, energy efficient, environmentally friendly building.

The team will be engaging with a number of neighbourhood groups whilst on site and will host special assemblies; coffee mornings and site visits for pupils, ensuring students and parents are kept informed of progress on the project before its completion in time for the 2020 academic year.

Morgan Sindall Construction has been delivering a number of successful projects across East Anglia, including the new Hethersett Woodside Infant & Nursery school, which is currently underway in the village of Hethersett.

The £8 million development will provide 420 primary school places and 56 nursery places for local children. The two storey, two-form-entry school will include spacious classrooms, a dedicated hard play area and play equipment for pupils.

• For more information about this news release please contact Ruth Cobban or Sophie Anderson at Influential on 0151 239 5000 or email cobban@thisisinfluential.com or anderson@thisisinfluential.com.