Work has started on a £3.6m project by independent management, design and construction consultancy Pick Everard to expand a school in the London Borough of Bromley, creating spaces for more than 100 pupils with special educational needs.
The Glebe School scheme sees the borough tackling the issue of a shortage of places for secondary aged pupils with ASD – Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
A total of 104 additional places will be created at the extended school in Hawes Lane, West Wickham. There will be 80 additional places for 11-16 year-olds and 24 for post-16 age students.
The services carried out by Pick Everard include design, civil engineering, project management, structural and M&E engineering. The contractor for the project is Lakehouse.
Tim Irons, associate at Pick Everard, said: “We’re very pleased to be working with our client the London Borough of Bromley, ensuring we work closely with them to meet the requirement to provide a greater number of places for pupils with special educational needs.
“We have a very strong track record working in the education sector. This is a project which is typical of our work in that it is often the case the schemes we deliver not only meet the needs of our clients, but also their wider communities.”
David Nisbet, partner at Pick Everard, added: “It is vital for a project such as this that we understand the specific needs of our client so the scheme can be tailored to meet their objectives.
“Recognising the precise learning requirements of students and listening to our client contacts is key. This is so we get the brief right and we can ensure the project is completed in the most cost-effective and efficient manner to a very high standard.”
The work will improve the facilities at the school including creating further classrooms and more breakout spaces. Delivery of the project will boost Glebe School’s ability to provide a full range of subjects across the national curriculum. This includes specialist subjects such as Food technology and IT.
Gill Thompson at the London Borough of Bromley said: “We’re thrilled to see work starting on this project which will ensure we have a better provision to meet the needs of pupils in our borough with special educational needs.
“Pick Everard has been listening to our aims so that the project is aligned to our objectives and meets our requirements for serving pupils with special educational needs.
“Ensuring pupil places are provided by the local authority is more cost-effective as it means the need for any pupils to travel outside of the borough for their educational requirements is reduced. Extending the school also means places do not need to be provided by the independent sector at a higher cost.”
Work on the project is due to be completed in September, 2016.