Construction work has commenced on a £7 million school expansion in Great Yarmouth.

A new two-storey school with room for 420 places will be built for North Denes Primary School. This forms part of a £169 million county-wide investment to create thousands of new school places in Norfolk.

Contractor Morgan Sindall was joined by the headteacher and pupils of the school to mark the major milestone.

John Stedman, framework manager at Morgan Sindall Construction in the East, said: "We are delighted to have started work on North Denes Primary School, which will help to provide pupils with the chance to access a high level of education that will help them throughout their educational journey.

"Fostering strong links with project neighbours and the wider community is incredibly important to the team, and where possible, we will be sourcing labour and materials from Great Yarmouth, helping to ensure social, economic and environmental benefits are seen by the community.

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"Morgan Sindall Construction has long standing expertise in building first-class educational facilities, and we look forward to furthering our long-standing collaborative relationship with Norfolk County Council and NPS."

Headteacher Debbie Whiting said: "I am absolutely delighted to have reached this stage. After all the planning and consultation that has gone before, it is exciting to begin to see our new school start to take shape.
The children in Great Yarmouth deserve to have a state-of-the-art school in which to learn – both those here now and future generations to come. We can't wait to move in next year and open a new chapter for education locally."

The school will feature photovoltaic panels on the roof, drawing on passive environment design principals to create a naturally ventilated, energy efficient, environmentally friendly building.

Classes will continue in the current school building while works on the project progress, with the team implementing processes such as traffic management systems and noise reduction during exams in order to minimise disruption to the school users and neighbours.

The new school is expected to be complete in time for the 2020 academic year.

(CM/MH)