Award Winning Schools

Leicestershire County Council are committed to provide 21st century facilities throughout the county, and by the end of the year the Council will have replaced four high schools as part of its programme of refurbishing school accommodation.

Castle Rock High School, Coalville, was the first school in the scheme to move into their new building, with Bushloe High School following suit in September. Work at Gartree High School, Oadby and Shepshed High School commenced in February 2006, with both schools set to open in September 2007.

All four schemes have state of the art lighting and heating systems and have used techniques such as Whole Life Costing, and thermal and daylight modelling to ensure the impact on the environment was kept to a minimum. Full site assessments were also carried out on all schemes including:

The classrooms have state-of-the-art ICT provision with interactive whiteboards, projection facilities and a high ratio of computers to pupils. The schools have impressive sports halls and outdoor ball courts that enable students to participate in a range of sporting activities.

The work is being funded by the County Council with support from the Government's Department for Education and Skills.

Castle Rock High School, Coalville, was the first of the four schools to open in April last year. The new school, which cost £10M, places learning at its centre symbolised through the location and dominance of a centrally located glazed roofed library.

Work commenced on site in late 2004, and the new building opened approximately two months earlier than originally planned. Students moved into the new accommodation on their return from the Easter break last year.

The glue-laminated timber frame and rubber roof finish express the commitment to sustainability

The building sits comfortable in its National Forest location at Warren Hills in Coalville, maximising the advantages of natural light. Ventilation is controlled by an automatic Building Management System and the building has been designed to meet the latest BB93 acoustic requirements.

The school won the 'Large Building of the Year' and the 'Sustainable Development of the Year' prizes at the ProCon 2006 awards. The school has also been awarded a National Green Apple for promotion of environmental best practice, an LABC Gold Award for Built in Quality 2007, short listing for SCALA Civic Building of the Year 2007 and upheld as an exemplar design by The DfES and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and is featured in the DfES “Learning by Design” Guide.

Work began in autumn 2004 on the construction of the second of the new high schools to be built in the County.

The new Bushloe High School at Station Road, Wigston, was built at a cost of £12M and includes a full range of classrooms, science and design laboratories, and sports and assembly halls.

The school's headteacher, staff and governors were all fully involved in the Design process and the views of school pupils were also taken into account.

Environmentally-friendly elements such as the harvesting of rainwater for later use in the flushing of toilets, and energy-efficient construction and maintenance techniques have also specifically been included in the design.

The school opened in September 2006, after which, the existing school was demolished and the land used for play areas and car parks.

The school won the 'Sustainable Development of the Year' prize at the ProCon 2007 awards.”

The newly completed developments at Shepshed High School and Gartree High School in Oadby mark the second phase of a three-year County Council programme.

These two state-of-the-art schools were handed over in May and July respectively for pupil occupation for the 2007 / 8 academic year and cost a combined total of £24 million.

A £10 million contract to replace the existing Forest Way School in Coalville with a new building to be located on the shared campus at present occupied by King Edward VII College, Castle Rock High School and Warren Hills Primary School.

This location will allow co-operation and increased sharing of facilities between the schools.

Work started on Site in August and is progressing quickly towards completion for occupation in December 2008.

As part of the Melton Secondary Review a Planning Application has recently been submitted for a new 6722m² Secondary School Building together with associated Landscape works to replace the existing John Ferneley High School on Scalford Road in Melton Mowbray at a cost of approximately £12million.

The anticipated start on site is the summer holidays of the 2008 school year, with an opening date of the new school year, September 2010.