Walton students help build their school

Walton students put on their hard hats and picked up their spades this week as they dug in at the site of a brand new building for the academy.

Construction is underway on the Kitty Briggs Lane building which will create new learning space for students in science and ICT. 

The building will host two 90sqm specialist science laboratories and two ICT rich classrooms at 60sqm, as well as additional general group rooms and a new prep room.

The development of the four new classrooms will support growth at Walton, enabling the academy to increase the current capacity of students on site from 750 to a larger cohort of 900 students. Staff numbers on site will also increase as a result of the development with the addition of eight full time equivalent staff.

In total, the new build will provide an increase in gross internal floor area (GIFA) of 471m2.

The new building has been funded by Lincolnshire County Council as part of the expansion of Walton as it transitions to offering additional coeducational secondary education for Grantham. In September 2019, the academy welcomed its first boys into year 7 with the number of boys entering the school expected to increase year on year.

The building will be used by all year groups at the academy, from year 7 right up to sixth form.

G F Tomlinson is the appointed contractor for the new development, which is due to be operational for the start of the spring 2020 term.

Contracts Manager, Stuart Risk, said “We are thrilled to be constructing the specialist science laboratories and ICT classrooms to support the growth of Walton.

“The new laboratories and classrooms are being delivered to the latest specifications for space, layout, thermal comfort, acoustic and light properties etc. and will be a fantastic addition to the academy, further enhancing the wonderful facilities Walton already has to offer.”

Walton Principal, Will Teece, added: “We are really excited by this new building project as it will bring much needed capacity to our academy.  It will allow us to develop our STEM offer even further and ensure that all our students have access to the highest quality facilities that they deserve. 

“Science has been an area of real strength for Walton, achieving the highest results across the academy in the most recent examination series, and these facilities will allow for even greater levels of practical work and high quality learning. 

“The new ICT suites will also generate much needed capacity that will support all subject areas across the academy and provide additional independent study areas for students as they prepare for their examinations.”