Work to begin on flagship £8.2m school within weeks

‘EXCITING’: An artist’s impression of the new Broadacre Primary School

Construction work is set to begin on a new £8.2m primary school including one of Hull’s first purpose-built bases for young children with autism.

Contracts have been exchanged to enable Broadacre Primary School, in Wawne Road, to have an expanded school constructed next to its current building, which will later be demolished.

The build will create a 630-place school, increasing capacity by 210 pupil places and incorporating a 10-place resource for children with Autistic Spectrum Condition, a 52-place nursery, enhanced external spaces and teaching areas, and a fenced multi-use games area.

The new school is needed to meet growing pupil numbers following the build and expansion of the nearby Kingswood and Wawne View housing developments.

Work will begin in January and new school playing fields will be open in time for the September 2022 term, following the demolition of the existing school building.

Lisa Staines, Executive Head at the school, which is part of the Humber Education Trust, said: “We have additional mobile units on site to use as classrooms and we’re still receiving applications for children to join us, so our new school is very much needed.

“We’re so excited and fortunate to get a brand new building and we can’t wait until February 2022 to move in and all be together as a school family under one roof again.

“It has been a really long journey and lots of planning has gone into it. It will be lovely for the children to see the school grow and watch the progress of the build each day.

“The facilities will be fantastic and we’ll have a dedicated room for food technology, plus two school halls and multi-use games area to give us scope to develop our PE curriculum.

“The purpose-built resource space for children with Autistic Spectrum Condition will enable them to be part of the main school and they will have bespoke facilities to cater for their needs. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us all to work together and benefit from that.”

‘FANTASTIC FACILITIES’: The new school will provide an additional 210 pupil places

The project is being delivered by Hull Esteem Consortium LEP Ltd, the council’s pre-procured framework which has led the delivery of £400m of new and improved education facilities across the city, along with culture and leisure regeneration projects, including Hull New Theatre and Ferens Art Gallery.

Gavin Barley, general manager at Hull Esteem, said: “This school is very much needed and it is going to be a fantastic education facility that the pupils, staff, Humber Education Trust and everyone involved can be proud of.

“Hull Esteem is proud to work in partnership with Sewell Construction to deliver this prestigious project on behalf of Hull City Council.

“It has been a great team effort and we have worked hand-in-hand to reach financial close.

“It’s really positive for Hull to deliver another education project and we’re delighted to continue to support the local authority in developing the education estate across the city.”

Councillor Peter Clark, Portfolio Holder for Learning, Skills and Safeguarding Children, said: “As a city we are working hard to accommodate the rising numbers of children needing school places.

“We want to ensure that as many children as possible have access to their preferred schools and that education is delivered in the best possible learning environments.

“I’m delighted that work will soon start on this brand new primary school, which will provide an additional 210 pupil places.”

Sewell Construction will start on site on January 4. The current school will remain fully operational throughout the build and the construction site will be segregated to ensure maximum safety and minimal disruption to the school day.