Work begins on 420-place primary school in Littleborough

Wates Construction began work this week on the Littleborough Community Primary School and Nursery, marking the occasion with a turf-cutting ceremony.

The multi-million-pound school, which is being funded by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of its School Rebuilding Programme will be built over two-storeys on land within the existing Littleborough campus.

 

Read more: Local schools to benefit from government’s rebuilding programmePublished: 15 February 2021

 

It will provide 14 new classrooms, a library, a new sports/assembly hall, Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and a 420-place primary school providing 60 places for each year group along with a 26-place nursery.

Located within a landscaped setting with outdoor play spaces and a dedicated car park, the older school buildings will be demolished once the new school is handed over ready for occupation, in late 2022.

Procured via the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Framework, it is one of a batch of six schools that Wates Construction was awarded in January 2020.

The new school is being developed in response to the age and condition of the existing building which has survived well beyond its life expectancy. 

The sustainable design of the school building includes an optimised thermal envelope with increased insulation and triple glazed windows, optimised window sizes to maximise daylighting together with rooflights and lightwells, enhanced ventilation with openable windows to classrooms and solar panels, which will be located across the main building and main hall roofs with a green roof to the main teaching block.

A minimum of 70 per cent of the building’s pre-manufactured value will be constructed using offsite manufacturing techniques to reduce the construction programme’s carbon footprint.

During the build process, the existing school will remain fully open so extra caution will be required, which is normal procedure on a live site. Strict delivery times and pick up/drop off times will be introduced to de-risk the situation and ensure everyone’s safety. 

Louise Woodman, Headteacher at Littleborough Community Primary School, said: “I am delighted that work is now starting on our new school. This is going to be really exciting for us and the wider community. Our children and families are thrilled, and this is going to be hugely beneficial for them.”

Dave Saville, regional director of Wates Construction North West, said: “We have been moving forward on this project for almost a year with some early works in July to prepare for the construction phase and we are pleased that the scheme is now fully underway. 

“Through our complete collaboration with all the parties involved, we know just how much time and effort the teaching staff and other stakeholders have put into ensuring that Littleborough’s pupils get the very best start to their education in this new school, and we are committed to making that happen.”

Councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children’s services and education at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We were delighted to secure the funding for Littleborough Primary to be rebuilt, it’s a really exciting time for the school community. I’m really pleased to see sustainability at the forefront of the building’s design and operation and the commitment Wates is making to sustainable building methods during construction.

“Now that the work is starting you can sense the buzz around school from staff and pupils, it’s going to be wonderful for them and for many more generations to come.”

A DfE spokesperson commented: “Tens of thousands of pupils are set to benefit from new, modern, energy-efficient school buildings as 100 schools are confirmed for the first two waves of the Prime Minister’s ten-year School Rebuilding Programme, to level up opportunities for all. The initial rebuilds and refurbishments will create modern education environments, providing new facilities from classrooms and science labs to sports halls and dining rooms.”