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Video: Pupils go on tour round new Voyager school
"WELCOME to the Voyager School. It is real."
"WELCOME to the Voyager School. It is real."Those were the words uttered by headteacher Hugh Howe as he stepped over the threshold of the new 26 million school.
Bulldozer tracks, men in hard hats and mounds of earth indicate that the Voyager is still very much a building site.
But a year and a day since work began, the shape of a school, off Mountsteven Avenue, Walton, Peterborough, has emerged from the rubble.
And by September 10, the builders will have gone and in their place will be 1,700 pupils.
The school is being built to replace Bretton Woods and Walton Community School, and as Mr Howe showed a group of pupils around the site, he bristled with pride.
The classrooms may be empty concrete shells – but Mr Howe saw something different.
He envisaged dance studios, a 600-seat theatre, fitness suite and caf.
Mr Howe's vision is stamped all over the Voyager – the wide "street" that links the corridors, vast windows and the healthy obsession with natural light.
It is a building that makes those young enough want to go to school, and those too old wish they were a decade or two younger.
And it is a place that fills one with hope that the future education of the young people of Peterborough is in safe hands.
Bretton Woods pupil William Holland-Leavens (16) said: "It's incredible how all this has been built in just a year – and within six months we will be coming here every day."
Mark Sampson (16), a lower sixth pupil at Walton, said: "It will be an inspiring place to learn – it is everything a school should be."
Another Walton pupil, Alice Brazier (16), added: "I had seen pictures of the work, but didn't know what to expect. The use of natural light is great and I only wish I had more time left at school."
Mr Howe revealed that the developers would hand over the keys on August 15.
Year 7 and Year 12 will attend school on its first day on September 10. By September 13 the whole school will be in for the first time and Mr Howe is already planning a mass photo to mark the occasion.
He said: "I am just delighted that the project will be completed on budget and on time."
Peterborough City Council's cabinet member for education and children's services councillor Geoff Ridgway said: "The Voyager promises to be a first-class school which will offer high-quality learning opportunities for young people in the city and the community as a whole."
The Voyager – which has already been awarded media arts specialist status – will employ 220 staff, and there are currently 200 builders on site.
Tours are held each week for pupils from the two closing schools to foster a sense of community in preparation for the September opening.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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