Cambridgeshire school starts new era with opening of new building

The official opening celebration for Sawtry Village Academy’s new school building took place last week, with North West Cambridgeshire MP, Shailesh Vara, unveiling the plaque.

In September 2017, the academy launched its New Building, Strong Future campaign to raise awareness of the state of the academy buildings and the need for significant investment. The campaign was run in partnership with CMAT and with the support and backing of MP, Shailesh Vara, and local councillor, Simon Bywater.

As a result of the campaign, in December 2017, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People Committee voted in favour of a proposal to invest £2million towards the redevelopment of the school buildings. Combined with School Conditions Allocations funding from the Department for Education, this investment has meant that the most affected buildings in the school could be replaced by a purpose-built school building, which includes 18 brand new classrooms.

On Friday, February 28, the community came together to celebrate the official opening of the new building. The celebration began with a formal opening ceremony, including speeches from Headteacher, Simon Parsons, the Head Boy and Girl, and Mr Vara.

Mr Vara then unveiled the plaque and guests were invited on a tour of the new academy building.

Simon Parsons, Headteacher at Sawtry Village Academy, said: “The official opening was a fantastic celebration of all we have achieved together through the New Building, Strong Future campaign.

“This new building does more than just improve our classroom provision. It signifies reward for the staff who worked hard under difficult circumstances. It gives hope for our students and it shows the strength and power that our school, Trust and community have when we all work together.

“I would like to thank all who have supported the campaign along the way, particularly Mr Vara and Councillor Bywater, and our amazing facilities team and contractors for their hard work in managing the build process.”

Shirley Jamieson, Chair of the Trust Board of Directors for CMAT, said: “The New Building, Strong Future campaign has been close to many peoples’ hearts and we’ve worked hard alongside the community to ensure that Sawtry has a school that students can be proud of. We are pleased to celebrate our achievements today alongside all those who helped make it possible.”

Mr Vara said: “I am delighted to see this fantastic new building completed. Students, parents and staff at the Academy can rightly be very proud of these new facilities. The school was in desperate need of refurbishment and the funding from the County Council has been monumental in moving this new build project forward. All of this would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of so many people including Cllr Bywater, Mark Woods and the local community.”