Works begin on large expansion to Whittlesey school

Kier Eastern and Cambridgeshire County Council held a groundbreaking ceremony to officially mark the start of construction at New Road Primary School.

The works will see an expansion of the existing school to take pupil numbers from 147 to 420.

Facilities will include a new pre-school, a full-sized 180m² sports hall, a two-storey extension with eight classrooms, landscaping enhancements including an enclosed multi-use games area, and refurbishments of existing spaces including a kitchen fit out.

Mayor of Whittlesey Julie Windle was in attendance for the ceremony, as well as councillors, the Kier team, the architect working on the project from RH Partnership and current pupils.

The project is due to be completed in spring 2020.

Dennis Cotton, operations director at Kier Eastern, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Cambridgeshire County Council to deliver this exciting project. We have extensive experience in delivering education facilities and we look forward to this project providing the local community with much-needed pupil spaces.”

The council said: “Cambridgeshire County Council are pleased to be able to provide additional investment in Whittlesey in order to provide additional school and early years places for local children and families.”

Rob Litten, headteacher at New Road Primary School, added: “The expansion of the school means that it is now a comparable size and has a similar range of facilities to the other two primary schools in the town.”