Member Article

First brick laid as work commences on new primary school for Chellaston

The first brick has been laid to mark the commencement of building works on the new Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy.

The ceremony was attended by developers Persimmon Homes, project managers and cost consultants Armsons and members of the Spencer Academies Trust, including new Principal Joanna McGregor.

The new school, which will be located on Riber Drive, off Swarkestone Road, will comprise of a new single storey building and a new sports pitch. When it opens in September 2019, it will have places for 210 boys and girls aged five to eleven.

A consultation process has taken place to ensure that the new school will be designed around the children’s needs, with large areas of outdoor space and a design chosen to maximise natural light.

Chellaston Fields is part of the Spencer Academies Trust chain and will have close links with other Ofsted outstanding Spencer primaries in the area.

Funding for the new school has come from a Section 106 agreement between Derbyshire County Council and developer Persimmon Homes, which is currently building 450 homes at its Regents Place development, with another two hundred new homes planned for Holmleigh Way.

A commercial centre is also planned by Persimmon. This will include an Aldi supermarket, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2018, and potentially, a drive-through Costa coffee franchise.

Commenting on the start of the works, Joanna McGregor, headteacher at the school, said:

“I am enjoying every step of designing the new school. This is an exciting opportunity to build the school around the children’s needs within the community it will serve.

“We aim to make Chellaston Fields a wonderful environment to explore and implement our core principles and curriculum to deliver an outstanding school to the community.”

Helen Rickett, sales manager for Persimmon Homes North Midlands, said:

“Regents Place is a major development for us. Here, it is not just about building homes but about creating an entirely new community, which ultimately will have a positive impact on the local economy. This new primary school forms an integral part of that.

“In total, Persimmon Homes North Midlands has committed more than £4.5 million investment into the area as part of its development via a package of S106 obligations. This includes the construction of the primary school, plus more than £1.1 million going towards the provision of enhancements to local secondary education facilities.

“We are proud to be making this significant contribution towards the community facilities in Chellaston as part of Regents Place development.”

Sally Walters, director at Armsons, added:

“We’re delighted that work is underway on what promises to be a really exciting project, which will bring a new primary school to the rapidly expanding village of Chellaston.

“Armsons have got got a proven track record of working on similar projects across the region and look forward to working with a very experienced project team to bring a state-of-the-art primary school to the area.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Donna Hill .