Start dates for city schools revamp
Starting dates for the £370 million project which will transform secondary school education in Wolverhampton were announced today.
Starting dates for the £370 million project which will transform secondary school education in Wolverhampton were announced today.
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the biggest project of its kind for a generation and will see every secondary school in the city rebuilt or revamped. A timetable showing when construction will get under way at each school can now be revealed. The city council has labelled the scheme "demanding and complex" but said it was confident it could be delivered.
The work will include completely new schools for Highfields Science Specialist College, Penn, and Heath Park Business & Enterprise College, Heath Town, as well as the construction of the Bilston and North Wolverhampton academies.
It will also see new classrooms, education and IT blocks, dinner halls and sports and arts facilities built in the city.
Construction workers will start the massive task in August next year before the official first phase starts in May 2011.
This will be followed by phase two in August 2011, phase three in February 2012 and phase four in August 2012.
The latest BSF update will go before the city council's children and young people scrutiny panel on Wednesday.
Council officer Tim Westwood said today: "Wolverhampton's BSF programme is large, demanding and complex, yet transformational and visionary.
"At the same time, extensive market testing has confirmed the proposals are realistic and deliverable.
"It represents the largest single investment in schools for a generation," Mr Westwood added.
"As well as involving the rebuild or refurbishment of all secondary schools in England over 15 years, the programme involves extensive transformation of teaching and learning.
"Locally, the programme is also seen as significantly contributing to the city's wider aspirations for regeneration and the further development of sustainable communities."
The city's two new academies will be sponsored by the council, Wolverhampton University and Wolverhampton College.
Bilston Academy will be built at Bilston Urban Village and North Wolverhampton Academy, which will bring together The Northicote School and Pendeford Business and Enterprise College on the current site of Pendeford in Marsh Lane.
