Littleborough Community Primary School is first net zero school to be rebuilt under DfE’s school rebuilding programme

Littleborough Community Primary School has become the first net zero school to be rebuilt under the Department for Education (DfE) School Rebuilding Programme.

Built by Wates, the 2,243sq m two-storey project has been constructed on land within the existing Littleborough campus. 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.

The school is net zero carbon in operation (NZCiO), thanks to measures including an optimised thermal envelope with increased insulation and large, triple glazed windows to maximise daylight together with rooflights and lightwells, enhanced ventilation and Photovoltaic solar panels.

The project is the first to be completed as part of the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme – a 10-year scheme of works which is seeing the rebuilding or refurbishment of 500 schools and sixth form colleges across the country, transforming learning environments for pupils and teachers.

Construction started in September 2021 with all works carried out while the existing school was still in operation.

The project has been delivered on time, and completion was celebrated with an event attended by delegates from across the delivery partnership, Rochdale Borough Council and the DfE.

Louise Woodman, headteacher at Littleborough Community Primary School, said: “We are delighted with our new building and it completes the improvement programme that has been taking place for a couple of years.”

“The children absolutely love the modern facilities and can’t wait to be in the new classrooms and use the new library and multi-use games area.”

Councillor Rachel Massey, Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for children’s services and education, added: “We are immensely proud that the borough of Rochdale is leading the way in this national programme and Littleborough Community Primary School is the first net zero school to be completed as part of the rebuilding programme.”

“What’s most important is the new environment provides our children with the best possible environment for learning and it is also a real asset to the local community.”

Sarah Cooke, regional director for the North West at Wates Construction, said: “Littleborough represents a step change in how schools are built, designed to not only provide brilliant, state-of-the-art learning facilities for pupils, but for the long-term benefit of the wider environment.

“We’ve been a partner to the DfE for years and it was an honour to be chosen to deliver this pioneering project. It’s benefited from the latest evolution of our Adapt system, while our experience using MMC [Modern Methods of Construction] to find sustainability solutions - for both public and private builds - has helped us deliver the DfE’s NZCiO goal. I congratulate all our teams on making this happen and look forward to our next completion.”

Littleborough is the first project to be completed as part of the initial tranche of net zero schools in the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme, with Wates’ delivering an additional two projects, including Whitworth Community High School.

Wates also recently completed their first project procured through the MMC framework, Edgar Wood Academy, in Middleton.