Steel signing ceremony held for Wexham School

Students, teachers and governors marked the latest stage of work at Wexham School with a steel signing ceremony on Friday 12 January.

 

Headteacher Lawrence Smith was joined by the school’s students, teachers and governors, as well as representatives from Slough Borough Council Property Services, Slough Urban Renewal (SUR), and Morgan Sindall Construction to celebrate this major milestone in the school’s expansion.

 

The school group visited the construction site where Morgan Sindall made a presentation to the group followed by an interactive Q&A session in their site office.

 

The work at Wexham School is part of the council’s ambitious school places programme – a multi-million pound investment in primary and secondary school buildings, extensions and new schools – to provide enough places for Slough’s current and future young people.

 

The Wexham School expansion will include a new 3,000 square metre three storey teaching block that will house 29 new classrooms for English, Humanities and Languages, three of which have dedicated ICT facilities. The new block will also provide staff workrooms, group rooms, a new student reception and welfare facilities, a new library and a sixth form study centre.

 

The existing library will be converted into two new science laboratories and external landscaped areas will be provided, along with a new staff car park, to complete the site.

 

Lawrence Smith, Headteacher at Wexham School, said: “I am exceptionally proud that Slough Borough Council chose Wexham to invest in. Redeveloping and adding these fantastic facilities to our already impressive Science, Technology and Creative Arts – and of course Sports facilities – we will really have a school fit for 21^st century education. This combined with our recent Ofsted inspection in November 2017, where the school was judged Good in all areas, will give us the launch pad we need to be a truly great school.”

 

Councillor Shabnum Sadiq, cabinet member for education and children, added: “By providing high quality learning environments and improved teaching spaces like the ones being built at Wexham School, we can help our young people get the best start in life.

 

“We are working hard to meet the demand for additional school places across our fast growing borough and the work being undertaken on this site forms a key part of the council’s ambitious school places programme.”

 

The Wexham School expansion project is being undertaken by Slough Urban Renewal (SUR), a partnership between Slough Borough Council and Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd which is driving regeneration across the town including in leisure, housing, community and school buildings.

 

Andy Howell, SUR General Manager, said: “We are delighted to be delivering state of the art new facilities and providing improved learning environments for young people in Slough. Everyone involved has worked collaboratively to get this project designed and into construction at a very quick pace – signing the steel frame is a great way for the students to leave a hidden legacy.”

 

James York, Morgan Sindall Area Director, added: “Engaging with the students on construction projects is always a highlight for me and the project teams. Not only are we raising the profile of the industry to our young people, we're celebrating this milestone event with those that will benefit from it the most.”

The Wexham School expansion is due to be completed by December.