Press release

Wyken Croft Primary School moves into brand new building

Pupils and teachers in Coventry benefit from £7.1 million rebuild as part of the government’s Priority School Building Programme.

From:
Department for Education, Education Funding Agency, and The Rt Hon David Laws
Published
21 November 2014
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Wyken Croft Primary School in Coventry had its official reopening ceremony today, following a multi-million pound rebuild.

The school’s existing dilapidated building has been completely rebuilt as part of the government’s £2.4 billion Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) to address 260 of the schools in England in the worst condition.

Wyken Croft Primary School is the third school in Coventry to open in new buildings under the PSBP. In total, 7 schools are being rebuilt across the city. Wyken Croft joins Whitmore Park Primary School and St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, which both opened this year.

Thanks to the PSBP, pupils and staff will now benefit from a new £7.1 million, 2-storey, fit-for-purpose rebuild comprising:

  • new classrooms
  • large dining-hall area
  • state-of-the-art kitchen facilities
  • a new nursery
  • a new centre that offers before- and after-school clubs

Schools Minister David Laws said:

The official opening of the new building for Wyken Croft Primary School is a fantastic achievement. This is the third school in Coventry to open as part of the Priority School Building Programme.

Delivering great new schools will help to build a stronger economy and a fairer society, so that every young person can get on in life. Vital building work is taking place at schools in the worst state across the country. We are making excellent progress with 14 school buildings now complete and all 260 schools projects due for completion by the end of 2017.

I hope the new school facilities will provide an inspirational learning environment that will encourage every student to reach their full potential.

An event was held yesterday to mark the official opening of the school. The rebuild was completed in just over 12 months. This was all made possible by a successful partnership between the school, Coventry city council, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the contractor, Wates Construction.

Derek Gardiner, Executive Headteacher at Wyken Croft Primary School, said:

Wyken Croft has a long and proud history stretching back over 60 years. We now have an outstanding new building with excellent facilities, which we hope will serve both the children and community of Wyken just as proudly in helping to further enhance their achievement and progress.

Richard Scarrott, Wates Business Unit Director, Midlands, commented:

The Education Funding Agency’s Priority School Building Programme is above all about creating amazing spaces to allow young people to be creative, learn and flourish, but this comes with the added need to keep a keen eye on the speed of construction whilst ensuring value for money is delivered.

The government is determined to raise the standard of schools and the education they provide as part of its plan for education. The PSBP is building on the progress already made in delivering a more efficient, faster and less bureaucratic approach to building schools.

As of November 2014:

  • 14 PSBP schools have now opened in new buildings
  • 59 schools are currently under construction
  • all 260 schools are due for completion by the end of 2017 – 2 years earlier than originally planned

Given the success of the PSBP, the government has announced a second phase of the programme, worth around £2 billion. Applications are currently being considered and successful applicants will be confirmed by the end of the year.

Notes to editors

  1. The PSBP is a centrally managed programme set up to address the condition of the schools most in need of urgent repair. Through the PSBP, 260 schools will be rebuilt or have their condition needs met.

  2. Over the course of this parliament, the government is allocating £5 billion to local authorities to support the provision of new school places and £2.8 billion for the maintenance of the school estate to meet the needs of maintained schools and academies. Over the spending review period, the total capital made available for investment in schools in England will be about £18 billion.

  3. Given the success of the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) so far, in May the government announced a further £2 billion to address condition needs in some of the worst school buildings across the country. Applications are currently being considered and successful applicants will be confirmed by the end of the year.

DfE enquiries

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Published 21 November 2014

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