MILLIONS of pounds have been invested in Darlington’s school buildings in recent years.
New schools have been built and are open at Firthmoor, Skerne Park, St George’s Primary School (the new name for Middleton St George’s Primary School), Alderman Leach and Harrowgate Hill.
Work in on-going to build a new Cockerton Primary School and funding has been announced for a new North Road Primary School.
There have also been six new or refurbished nursery units created in primary schools in the Borough. Major work has been carried out at Whinfield Primary School and re-wiring work has taken place at 20 other schools in the Borough.
The Council is also investing £2m to create a new pupil referral unit in the town for those children who can not be taught in school for a variety of reasons.
New music classrooms have been built at Longfield School and a new technology and performance hall has been built at Carmel RC Technology College and a new sports hall is being built at the Federation of Abbey Schools.
Temporary classrooms have been replaced at Dodmire Junior School and asbestos has been removed from five schools. Many new heating and boiler replacements are also being carried out.
The total of this investment is more than £104m and an additional £25m could be coming to the Borough to create the Academy.
DARLINGTON'S EDUCATION VILLAGE
Darlington has also become the first place in the country to build an Education Village where 1,400 children up to the age of 19 can be educated on one site.
The £37m Village, which is being built under the Private Finance Initiative, is bringing together Springfield Primary School, Haughton Community School and Beaumont Hill Technology College on the site of Haughton Community School.
The ground-breaking scheme will create a unique learning environment which will help raise education standards, deliver inclusive education, help pupils transfer more easily from primary to secondary school and develop the schools as a centre of the community.
The Village has interactive white boards in every classroom as well as wireless acess points in all learning areas. A budget of £1.7m has been spent on the very latest furniture for the classrooms.
It has nine external sports pitches and a 25m swimming pool. The Village is also served by dedicated transport drop-off points to ensure there is minimal congestion at the entrance to the Village and that parents and pupils are safe at all times.
One of the main features of the development is the inclusion of children with special needs from Beaumont Hill Technology College.
The Village is being built by Kajima, who will run some of the services such as cleaning and building maintenance but overall control will remain with Darlington Council.
The Education Village will open in 2006 after the Easter break. The Council will be holding open days at the site for the general public before the opening. Details can be found on the Education Village Tour page.
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HUMMERSKNOTT AND CARMEL
£25m has been secured to re-build and renew Hummersknott School and Language College and Carmel RC Technology College with work expected to start in the Spring.
Chris McEwan, Darlington Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “We have invested an enormous amount in the structure and buildings of our schools.
"This investment shows our commitment to providing the best possible environment for teachers and pupils to work in. We will continue to find new ways of attracting funding for our schools so we can give all of our children and teachers the best possible environments for teaching and learning.”
NORTH ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL
PLANS to build a new £6.5m primary school in Darlington have been revealed after council chiefs secured a major funding boost.
Darlington Council has been confirmed as one of just 23 local authorities across the country to get a share of the Government’s £150m Primary Capital Programme (PCP) Pathfinder initiative.
The Council will invest the £6.5m it receives from the scheme in creating a new North Road Primary School.
Officials will now start work on drawing up the plans and the money will be available from April 2008.
Under the proposals, a new school would be built on the existing playing field, reducing the need for temporary accommodation while the work was carried out.
Once complete, the old school would be demolished and the land used as playing fields for the school and the community.