Morgan Sindall Celebrates Steel Signing at Essex SEN School

Morgan Sindall Construction’s Essex business recently commemorated the final structural installation at the specialist educational needs (SEN) Castledon School with a steel signing ceremony.

Appointed by Essex County Council (ECC) to the project, the tier one contractor’s work includes extending the school’s facilities, helping the county meet a growing demand for specialist educational support.

To mark the occasion, representatives from the Morgan Sindall team, the school’s headteacher Simon Holliday, members of Zenith Multi-Academy Trust, Rayleigh and Wickford’s Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Francois, and several local councillors gathered at the site to sign the extension’s steel frame.

Procured through the Essex Construction Framework 2 (ECF2), works on the educational facility are on track to complete in summer 2025. Once open, the site will provide further support for students in the local area aged between 5-19 living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), moderate learning difficulties, and other special educational needs

Working alongside Ingleton Wood Architects, the development will create 11 multi-purpose classrooms, including a sports hall, food tech classroom, science lab, art studio, therapy and physio facilities, a calm room, MUGA area, library, and office space for teaching staff. The extension will increase the school’s capacity from 82 students to 196.

As a part of its Intelligent Solutions approach, Morgan Sindall is using its in-house CarboniCa carbon assessment tool to monitor and control carbon output. Once complete, 70% of the property’s roof will feature photovoltaic (PV) panels, enabling the school to achieve net zero in operation.

Ryan Liversage, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Essex, said:

It’s been an absolute pleasure to welcome the community on site to sign the steel and see our progress. Delivering Castledon School’s extension is incredibly important to meet the growing demand for high-quality, specialist educational support in Essex, so it means a lot to apply our expertise and bring this project to life. We’re excited to reach even more milestones on this inspiring development and continue to work closely alongside Essex County Council and the local community.”

Simon Holliday, Headteacher at Castledon School said:

It is incredible to see the vision for appropriate facilities for our wonderful young people becoming a reality. I am particularly excited about the new sports hall and dedicated science room to help enhance the curriculum."

Mark Francois, Rayleigh and Wickford MP added:

As someone who lobbied the previous Government for the multi-million pound funding to underwrite this scheme, I am delighted to see it now come to fruition. Castledon is already a very good school and this major extension, being built by Morgan Sindall, is great news for SEN pupils, in both Wickford and beyond.”

Councillor Tony Ball, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability, said:

This is an exciting milestone and an important step forward in meeting the rising demand for special school places in Essex. We are pleased to see this project progressing and look forward to seeing the final school when it is complete.”

ENDS

For more information about this news release please contact Gabriella Elia at Influential at [email protected]