Cllr Neghat Khan officially opens the Glade Hill expansion with head teacher Loretta Sheppard
A City primary school has officially opened its new £1.8m expansion – increasing its space for pupils by 210 places.
Six new classrooms, toilet blocks, a staff room and storage space have been created at Glade Hill Primary in Chippenham Road, Bestwood Park.
Work was carried out in two phases in 2017 and 2018. The extra places will be ready for the next school year in September 2019.
The expansion at Glade Hill is part of Nottingham City Council’s ambitious plan to increase the number of school places in Nottingham, with £42m invested since 2009 to provide 5,000 additional primary places once all year groups are full by 2022.
A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held with Cllr Neghat Khan, Portfolio Holder for Education and Skills in Nottingham, to mark the official opening. The Glade Hill school choir will also treat guests to a special performance.
Loretta Sheppard, Head Teacher at the school said: “We’re thrilled with the new extension and what it will mean for Glade Hill – our wonderful school will now have space for even more children from our local community.
“Parents and pupils have been amazing throughout the building work. Our school ethos is ‘we are golden and we sparkle’ – and this new expansion certainly embodies that.”
Councillor Khan added: “Glade Hill is a good school that works hard to ensure children are happy and safe. This expansion means more children will be able to benefit from this caring environment. I feel proud to be officially opening the new building that marks the start of the next chapter of the primary.”
Craig Stopper, Framework Manager at GF Tomlinson, said: “We’re proud to have completed another valued project, especially knowing that the hard work put into construction will now allow an additional 210 children to attend a fantastic local school.”
The City Council has taken bold and decisive action to ensure that there are enough primary school places to meet the current and future demand.
A further expansion is planned for Nottingham as part of the programme. Middleton Primary School in Wollaton will have 210 additional primary places by September 2019, following investment of £4.1m.
Cllr Khan added: “Our ambition remains to ensure that all pupils in Nottingham attend a good school, close to home and our on-going expansion strategy means that we are creating more places to achieve this goal.”