Etonbury gets the keys to new classrooms

The project on behalf of Bedfordshire East School Trust (BEST) was formally handed over by construction firm Morgan Sindall, as part of a celebratory ceremony to mark the completion of work to the school.

Morgan Sindall area director David Rowsell and project manager Peter Dashwood handed over the keys to Alex Prior, Etonbury Academy’s Principal and the Chief Executive of the Bedfordshire Schools Trust, Dr Alan Lee, in a ceremony attended by students, chair of governors, trustees and Central Bedfordshire Council ward member for Arlesey and BEST trustee, Cllr David Shelvey.

This was the second phase of expansion works to the Arlesey school under Central Bedfordshire Council’s New School Places Programme, which aims to meet current and future demand across the area over a five-year period to 2022.

Councillor Steve Dixon, Central Bedfordshire Council Executive Member for Families, Schools and Education, said: “Our New School Places scheme is about creating additional places in areas of demand like Arlesey, so that children can go to a good local school on their doorstep.”

This latest development includes six new classrooms, an additional science laboratory, technology and engineering spaces and two new food technology rooms. The expansion follows the successful completion of a £6.8 million expansion that Morgan Sindall delivered at the school in 2016. Over three years, the programme has taken the school’s capacity from 400 students to more than 1,100 school places.