Balfour Beatty joined dignitaries, students and teachers to mark the topping out of the £5.9m Clarendon Primary School in Bolton earlier this week.

The completion of the main structure in Recreation Street was celebrated by asking guests, including pupils, to sign a steel beam that would form part of the permanent structure of the school.

The scheme is being built as part of the Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Scheme and will provide a new two-storey nursery and primary school within Heywood Park which is situated close to Bolton town centre.

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The school's design was a collaboration between the local authority, school staff and governors and reflects their strong desire for a natural environment synonymous with its park setting. The building will feature a built-in external teaching deck and every classroom has large areas of glazing with low level window sills to provide unobstructed views and allow a natural flow from the internal to external environment.

Each ground floor classroom also has direct access to the outdoors, where there are large expanses of covered space which are suitable for both play and teaching purposes. The building will be naturally ventilated and have solar panels on the roof.

These modern features will be complemented by terracotta panels reclaimed from the existing Victorian, brick-built school and incorporated into the new building.

Works have commenced and are programmed to complete in spring 2014.

(CD/JP)