Major milestone celebrated at £8.2m Broadacre Primary School development

The new £8.2m Broadacre Primary School building reached its half-way point this month.

Partners celebrated with a topping-out ceremony involving all the staff and pupils from the school, alongside Hull City Council’s portfolio holder and Humber Education Trust’s CEO Rachel Wilkes.

A special guest appearance was also made by Hull City player, Lewie Coyle.

Broadacre pupils have been watching their new school progress through viewing windows from their existing school playground since work commenced in January.

A selection of students were invited to tour the development site and help raise a flag to the highest point of the building to mark the occasion.

The rest of the school gathered in the playground in classroom bubbles to enjoy the celebrations. Music was played into the playground as the Headteacher, Councillor and Lewie Coyle spoke through microphones.

Lisa Staines, Executive Head at Broadacre Primary School said: “The whole school has been so excited to see the new building taking shape over the weeks and now we get to celebrate reaching such a significant milestone together.

“The children created their own flags to wave in the playground as they danced along to the music and watched the official raising of the Broadacre Primary School flag at the top of the building.

“Sewell Construction and Esteem have engaged with the school throughout the process, and it means so much to us for the teams to become a part of our school community. We’re looking forward to the next few months as we lead up to the opening of our new school next year.”

The new school is being delivered by Hull Esteem Consortium LEP Ltd, the council’s pre-procured framework, which has led the delivery of £400 million of new and improved education facilities across the city, along with culture and leisure regeneration projects, including Hull New Theatre and Ferens Art Gallery.

The new purpose-built school also includes a dedicated base for young children with autism.

Councillor Shane McMurray, Portfolio Holder for children’s services said: “Not only will this new build provide a fantastic environment for local children, but I’m pleased that it will offer purpose-built provision for children with autism.

“We are investing around £50milion in the city’s schools to ensure the city’s children have the best learning environments possible, and this school will provide just that.”

Works to the new build school are due to be completed in September 2022, increasing capacity by 210 pupil places and incorporating a 10-place purpose-built space for children with Autistic Spectrum Condition, a 52-place nursery, enhanced external spaces and teaching areas, and a fenced multi-use games area.

Rachel Wilkes, Humber Education Trust CEO, said: “Kingswood has been a growing community over recent years, and it’s so lovely that a school which has been here from the very beginning is now expanding. Their new purpose-built school will have all the resources needed to provide a fantastic education to its pupils.”