Bath & North East Somerset Council has invested £7.5m expanding three primary schools across the area to provide hundreds of additional places for pupils.
The new extension to Castle Primary in Keynsham | Photo © B&NES Council
Extra places are needed due to an increase in local housing development and general population growth.
Councillor Kevin Guy, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “As our communities evolve and grow, we need to invest in our schools to ensure they meet the demand for places.
“We’ve built fantastic modern facilities which will serve their local communities for many years to come.
“Providing additional places in areas that are growing will also help us tackle the climate emergency as pupils will be able to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to school reducing car journey’s and carbon emissions.”
Among the schools to benefit was St Nicholas CoE Primary School in Radstock, where a new £2.4m teaching block was officially opened on Friday.
The school now has four new light and airy classrooms and a large activity/tech room as well as staff and group space.
The existing school buildings have also been improved with the reception area remodelled and refurbished and the school kitchens enlarged to cater for the additional number of children.
As a result of the expansion, St Nicholas can now accommodate an extra 140 pupils bringing its capacity to 420.
The new building was designed by BBA Architects of Bath and the main contractor was Bath’s H Mealing and Sons.
An additional 210 places have been created with the expansion of Castle Primary School in Keynsham.
A new teaching block, incorporating four new classrooms and a hall has been constructed, existing school buildings substantially remodelled and classrooms and facilities refurbished.
Outside areas have been redesigned with new and enlarged playground areas, natural habitats and playing fields.
The new building, designed by BBA Architects of Bath, has won a Building Control Award for Building and Design Quality. The main contractor was H Mealing and Sons of Bath.
Whitchurch Primary has also benefitted from significant investment, with the construction of four new classrooms in a new teaching block.
The expansion means the school will be able to take an additional 105 pupils.
The energy-efficient building was designed with the latest guidance on ventilation in schools to provide the best indoor environment for teaching and learning.
The new building was again designed by BBA Architects of Bath, and the main contractor was Oakland Construction Limited from Bristol.
