Work begins on Phoenix Learning Community
Work has started on the site of a new £17.8m school for 900 students in Dawley, which will specialise in sport and science.
The Phoenix Learning Community is being built on Paddock Mount as part of the Telford & Wrekin Council Building Schools for the Future Programme.
And contractors Kier Construction have now started the crucial preparation work which will herald the start of building work on the new facilities.
Kier’s regional framework manager, Richard Collin, said they had worked in partnership with the local authority to design the school which will play a key role in the area’s future.
“It will be a secondary school and as well as teaching facilities, there are plans for the school to host public facilities including a fitness centre, health and sports facilities, which will be funded by a Sport England grant. We are very pleased to have been selected to once again work with Telford & Wrekin Council on a project that will make a huge difference to the local community.”
The Paddock Mount site is a former colliery and the land has been engineered before development could begin – this included dealing with landfill issues, capping old mine shafts, and modelling the site.
Headteacher at the current Phoenix School, in Dawley, Neil Stonehouse, said: “We’re very excited to see work beginning on site, and it’s going to be a great experience for our pupils and staff to be able to watch as the buildings grow. The facilities this new project will create will be second-to-none, and we can’t wait for the official opening which is expected to take place in time for the autumn term in 2013.”
The site will also include a competition-level eight-court regional sports hall facility, and outside a synthetic turf rugby pitch, grass football pitches, a grass running track, and an eight-lane competition BMX track. The landscaping design also includes external science gardens, and an outdoor performance space.
Councillor Paul Watling, cabinet member for children and young people at Telford & Wrekin Council, said work starting on site was a real milestone in the process.
“Phoenix Learning Community is the first phase of a larger development which is part of the Dawley Regeneration scheme, and we’re very pleased to be working closely with all sections of the local community to ensure the new facilities meet the needs of everyone in the area.”
