A new £4.6m school in Highbridge was handed over to the County Council on Friday (August 31st) ahead of its opening for the new school year.
The new 420-pupil Churchfield School in Highbridge is scheduled to be ready for the start of the new term following a year-long construction project.
“The handover of the building and immediate external areas took place on Friday,” Somerset County Council spokeswoman Elizabeth Kulh confirmed to Burnham-On-Sea.com.
She added: “The whole project is on schedule and will not be completed until mid-February 2013 for the demolition of the old Churchfield building, and all external/landscaping works as well as construction of the PE stores.”
The £4.6million, 14-classroom school has been constructed by VINCI Construction UK and a ‘topping out’ ceremony was held in January to mark the final stage of construction, which has been underway ever since.
The school’s handover comes despite overcrowding concerns first reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com after the County Council already applied for planning permission for a two-classroom ‘temporary unit’ to be sited besides the new building to cater for an overspill of pupils.
Cllr Helen Groves said: “There has been no future proofing for population expansion. It’s very sad that two classes will have to be based in a temporary unit because the new school is simply not big enough.”
Pictured: Top, builders finishing work at the new school this week and, above, how it will look when it formally opens
