PFI News

November 2007

The old sports hall and gym have now been demolished making way for the new car park. The next section to be demolished will be the 3 storey technology block and the north section of the old buildings working south through Brookside, Fleet, Talbot and finally Grove. The ground will then be prepared for the new external sporting facilities comprising of a full size synthetic football pitch and a Multi-use-games-area that will accommodate 3 tennis courts. Both of these areas will be floodlit.

October 2007

Phase 2 of the works have now begun. The existing grass pitches are being re-graded and fitted with improved drainage systems. They will then be re-seeded and cultivated to Sport England specification ready for September 2008.

September 2007

At last we have moved into the new building. The new era has begun. Everyone has very quickly become familiar with the easy to navigate layout and the large open areas make the school feel light and spacious. It is a huge improvement on the old school.

December 2006

The student Council visited the site and were very impressed with what they saw. All the floor slabs are now complete and many of the internal walls are in place. The students commented that the classrooms are bigger than the ones we have now and were very enthusiastic about the new performing arts facilities and the very large Learning Resource Centre

There was a slight setback on 13th December when we were hit by unusually high speed winds. The roof of the new building is not yet fully completed and the sudden high winds managed to pull the sheets from the fixing that were in place. Remedial works were carried out swiftly and the building was made safe by the following day. Progress continues as normal.

November 2006

With the roof sections on the sports hall (block A) and the connected blocks (B & C) complete work has begun on the internal walls. The classrooms and other areas are now starting to be formed. In addition the external walls are being constructed around the sports hall and the front panels are being fitted together with the windows (see Nov 2006 photos). You can also get a feel for the size of the open gallery space in the centre of the building which will be used to showcase student art work.

September 2006

The steel structure is now complete (see September 2006 photos). Many of the concrete floor slabs have been laid and work has begun on the roof. This work will take a number of weeks.

July 2006

Progress has been swift on the new build. The steel work is being erected at an astonishing rate with half the school already constructed (see the webcam). Many staff and several groups of students have been on site to witness 1st hand the new school being built and many more will be visiting the site from September. When the students return after the summer holidays they will find the whole building has been fully erected and the brickwork has begun.

"On behalf of the school I would just like to say a huge thank you to the Staff at Sir Robert McAlpine who have been superb in ensuring very high levels of health and safety for all of our staff and students and for working closely with the school to ensure the new build meets the needs of our students". "Special thanks to David Harrison and Kristen Sutton".

April 2006

And even more piling. You will see on the photos page for this week hundreds of yellow pegs in the ground. Each one of these pegs is where a concrete pile will be sunk. Have a look at the bridge!! It's over 5 metres high, has four flights of stairs at the school side and has 1.8m high side barriers for extra safety.

W/C 27th March 2006

Piling, piling and more piling.

W/C 20th March 2006

The piling work is continuing - this will take several weeks to complete the 910 concrete piles. The new site entrance and car park is nearly complete and signage has been placed on the fencing.

W/C 13th March 2006

The grouting works are now complete, well ahead of schedule. The construction of the bridge is underway but progress is slowed by the bitterly cold conditions and a covering of snow. The next phase of the build is now starting. The school will be built on a concrete slab which will sit on top of 910 concrete piles. The machinery and staff who will carry out this work are now on site and work has commenced.

W/C 6th March 2006

The grouting works are going well. If you look at the photos you will see black tubes sticking out the ground, these are the points that have been drilled and grouted. A bridge is going to be built at the south east corner of the school. The bridge is to provide a safe path across the road at the rear of the school as this road is now used by construction vehicles.

W/C 27th February 2006

The site of the new school was once a drift mine which apparently closed in 1939, therefore the ground condition is not the best quality for building on. A geological survey has been carried out and all faults and voids identified. A specialist company have been brought in to drill down into these faults and inject a special grout that solidifies underground. This process will take several weeks to complete.

W/C 20th February 2006 - half term holiday

The site of the new school is being worked on to ensure the area is flat and level. Tonnes of rubble is then tipped onto the site and compressed this is called a 'pile blanket'. There is also work going on to create a new site entrance road.

W/C 13th February 2006

The site cabins were delivered over the weekend and put in place. The tennis court fencing is being removed and there are some large pieces of earth moving machinery that are removing the top soil from the site of the new school. The good quality soil will be retained on site and reused in the landscaping of the new school.

W/C 6th February 2006

The fencing is complete. The whole school has now been safely separated from the building site and site traffic. If you look closely at some of the pictures you can see red striped stakes. These indicate the corner points of the new school.

W/C 30th January 2006

Work begins!!!!
Charlton Fencing are on site this week. They are erecting a perimeter safety fence around the school. This fence is to segregate the building site from the school to ensure the school remains a safe and secure place for the students and staff. Fencing is also to be erected along the edge of the rugby field to provide an area to store the top soil that will be scraped from the site of the new school. Sir Robert McAlpine staff are also on site and are creating the foundations for their works cabins to be sited. - The JCBs have arrived

W/C 23rd January 2006

The school is a tranquil place at present, only one or two small areas show the signs of the geological tests that have been undertaken and the odd marker peg indicating the edges of the new school.