Morgan Sindall Construction starts work on flagship Southampton school

Morgan Sindall Construction has started work on Southampton’s first all-through school, having been awarded the contract by Southampton City Council through the Pagabo national framework for major construction works. As the first school in the city-region to offer primary and secondary education on one site, it will support more than 900 vital additional school places.

The main contractor has been carrying out stage one design and enabling work over the last few months and has now broken ground on the main phase which will expand the existing St Mark’s Church of England Primary School.

The school is being built on the existing site of the primary school. Temporary buildings have been erected for use by primary aged pupils, while the main project is under construction.

The expanded school will provide a pre-school nursery, a two-form entry primary school and a six-form entry secondary school. A 9,211 square metre, three-storey building will house 56 classrooms. The all-through school will share offices, administration and staff rooms to ensure a streamlined management model.

While the design has been developed to maintain separate primary and secondary teaching spaces, the dining and kitchen areas, the library, and the special education needs provision will be shared to ensure the all-through school model works efficiently.

New sports and recreation facilities will form part of the expanded school, and there are plans to make these available for members of the public to hire outside school hours.

Construction work is due to complete in autumn 2022.

Cliff Kinch, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “An all-through school with incorporated sporting facilities is a first for the city-region, and the benefits are clear and numerous. In addition to providing an integrated and seamless education experience for pupils, the council can focus its investment on a single modern site.
“We have built a successful relationship with Southampton City Council during the delivery of several key schemes. We’re incredibly pleased to continue it with this key education project as the local authority makes good on a pledge to increase the number of school places available in the city centre by 2022.”

Councillor Darren Paffey, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, said: “This is an ambitious and exciting project and a clear signal of our commitment to ensuring that children get the best possible start in life and benefit from best-in-class education facilities. I’m pleased that the next phase of work has begun and that we are moving closer to creating hundreds of much-needed school places for our young children.
The project team and all partners involved with the project are committed to ensuring that works are carried out responsibly and safely. We’ll also continue to be mindful of the impact that works can have on the nearby community and keep local residents and businesses updated.”

• For more information about this news release please contact Jonathan Daly at Influential on 07881301437 or email [email protected]