Decision details

To agree to the award of a contract to expand Nene Park Academy.

The impact of significant growth in primary age children is now putting pressure on the Council’s secondary schools.  Pressure for Year 7 places started in 2015 and will be critical by 2018.

A key priority for the Council is to provide local school places for children, and the Council is monitoring very closely the demographic trends, along with the growth in housing developments.  The Council has analysed the postcode data of children entering our schools to ensure expansions are taking place in the right parts of the City.  This data was used to validate the assumption to expand Nene Park Academy, and confirmed that expansion is required if places are to continue to be made available to local children.

As a result of the above, Nene Park Academy needs to expand by two forms of entry. To accommodate additional pupils, the following work will be undertaken:

·         construction of a new 3-storey wing, linked to the existing school, partial demolition and internal remodelling of existing buildings to provide specialist technology provision to extend the curriculum into light engineering, graphics, product design and the use of modern making techniques. The additional building space provides the rooms required for the delivery of English, Mathematics, Humanities, modern foreign languages and the use of IT across the curriculum. 

·         ancillary accommodation such as office space, toilets, lockers and storage.

·         improved PE facilities and a new netball court which can also extend community us of the Academy’s sports facilities

·         additional on-site student ‘drop-off’ facilities.

The following options were considered and rejected:

To do nothing – this option was rejected due to the demand for secondary school places in the area and the Local Authority’s statutory duty to provide sufficient school places.

To tender to the construction market for a contractor – this option was rejected due to the timescales and costs of the tender process and the risk of the project not being completed by September 2018.

            To run a mini competition using the LHC Framework – this option was rejected due to the timescales of the tender process, but also to take advantage of the significant knowledge that Kier Construction Ltd already have of the Nene Park Academy site and buildings, having been the contractor on the previous Academy scheme.  .

None

School Organisation Plan 2015-2020 (updated 2016)