Building of Banbury’s new Cherry Fields primary school to begin
Construction of a new primary school with nursery, to be named Cherry Fields, officially started on the Hanwell View development in Banbury, with a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday, 09 October.
Scheduled to open in September 2020, the mixed gender primary school will be for students aged 2-11 years and will be run by GLF Schools.
It will provide 270 new places overall, including six places for SEN and 60 nursery places.
The school will be accepting applications for places in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 for September 2020. Those interested in applying should go to the Cherry Fields website - www.cherryfieldsprimaryschool.org/1801/school-admissions
Cherry Fields primary school will benefit from general and specialist teaching facilities, a sports hall, library and catering facilities, as well as outdoor areas for teaching and play.
Additional sport facilities will be available for school and community use, consisting of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) and a soft landscaping area on an adjacent site.
Jon Chaloner, CEO of GLF Schools, said: “We are delighted to see work starting on Cherry Fields primary school, which will be part of an extensive community of experienced and supportive colleagues across our 40 current GLF schools.
“All of us are looking forward to welcoming the first children into a purpose-built space which will provide a wonderful environment for their learning experience and with the room to grow as we need to.”
Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for education, Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, said: “The Hanwell View development will be a new and thriving community. There has been careful planning to ensure the school will meet local children’s educational needs, whilst also offering shared facilities to benefit all the residents.
“The County Council is proud of its commitment to get children into their parents’ first choice of school.”
Liz Clutterbrook, Service Delivery Lead, Major Capital Projects, said: “It’s an incredible honour to be involved in bringing forth from mere drawings and ideas a structure that will stand for many lifetimes and benefit the residents in Oxfordshire for years to come. My thanks and good wishes go out to everyone lucky enough to be involved in this project”
Adrian Grocock, Managing Director of the building contractor Bowmer & Kirkland, said: “Bowmer & Kirkland are delighted to be appointed Principal Contractor on the Cherry Fields Primary School project for Oxfordshire County Council, where throughout the pre-construction phase we have worked together in a collaborative environment with all parties in order to enable construction works to now commence on site.
“We are looking forward to working both with Oxfordshire County Council and their advisors throughout the construction phase of the project to provide new quality educational facilities for the local area that we can all be proud of.”