25 November 2016
Official opening of St George’s Church of England Foundation School in Broadstairs
25th November 2016 was a date of great significance for St. George’s Church of England Foundation School as it was the start of yet another chapter in the school’s history by becoming the first all-through school in Thanet.
The new build took less than one year to complete and realised a dream of Principal, Mrs Kim Stoner. The building was opened by Rev Nigel Genders (Church of England Chief Director of Education) with prayer and blessing by Rev Trevor Willmott, Bishop of Dover, and the long standing Foundation Governor of the School, Rector of Holy Trinity and St. George’s Churches in Ramsgate, Father Peter Adams.
Completed in record time to make sure it was ready to open in September, instead of the estimated 52 weeks for a traditional school build it was finished in just 40 weeks.
Costing the council £5.8m, the new, nine classroom modern primary school building also has a hall, kitchen and servery in addition to an outdoor MUGA, games courts and amphitheatres.
The project was a particularly challenging fast-track scheme due to the time constraints. By using an innovative off-site manufactured approach, 3D technology enabled this process to be significantly more efficient in comparison to a traditional 2D approach.
The remaining five classrooms and other facilities will form the next phase to enable the school to operate at a full two form of entry primary school.
From the outset, the programme timetable proved to be the key challenge as there was no margin for delays. On a weekly basis, the site manager carried out progress reviews and adapted the works programme accordingly, ensuring that any potential issues of delays were counteracted.
The whole process has involved staff, students and parents, with informative site tours, regular newsletters and Twitter updates on progress. As part of their study programme, two separate classes attended the site every Tuesday and Thursday to see progress and learn about the works being carried out. Neighbouring local businesses and residents were also kept up to date with progress and access was maintained at all times and disruption minimised.
Roger Gough Kent County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, will be attending the opening said: “I am delighted this new school build has been such a success, it will offer much needed new provision for this part of Thanet. There are now 32 primary schools in the Thanet District, providing a total of 1,770 reception year places.
“Across Kent we have already expanded 25 primary schools, adding 14 permanent forms of entry which were all added in time for the start of this new school year in September.”
Mrs Stoner, Principal, stated: “The school are grateful to the Local Authority, Canterbury Diocese, governors, the church, staff, students and their families and the local community who have supported the process every step of the way.”
Kent County Council and Baxall Construction were also thanked for working so closely with the school to ensure the new facilities for primary children were ‘world class’ and would engage young people to prepare for the demands of the 21st Century.
Mrs Stoner continued: “This massive investment in education will be life changing for all St. George’s Church of England Foundation School students and the local community”.
The project was designed and delivered using BIM (Building Information Modelling). BIM is a modern day collaborative approach to construction project delivery where the complete team, Baxall, KCC, the school and GEN2 have worked together to develop and deliver a full design and works programme in conjunction with input from the school.