Groundbreaking for new Banbury school

L-R Martyn Collier, site manager; Christine Adams, Ashberry Homes; Nick Murza, GLF Schools; Paul Almond, Cherwell District Council; Lindsey Davenport, Bellway; David Stear, Ridge, employer agent and Andrew Bossons, BKBS contracts manager

The new Cherry Fields Primary School is scheduled to open in September 2020, and will be a mixed gender primary school for students aged between two and 11 years and will be run by GLF Schools.

It will provide 270 new places overall, including six places for SEN and 60 nursery places.

Jon Chaloner, CEO of GLF Schools, said: “We are delighted to see work starting on Cherry Fields primary school, which will be part of an extensive community of experienced and supportive colleagues across our 40 current GLF schools.

“All of us are looking forward to welcoming the first children into a purpose-built space which will provide a wonderful environment for their learning experience and with the room to grow as we need to.”

Cherry Fields will feature general and specialist teaching facilities, a sports hall, library and catering facilities, as well as outdoor areas for teaching and play.

Additional sport facilities will be available for school and community use, consisting of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) and a soft landscaping area on an adjacent site.

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for education, Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, said: “The Hanwell View development will be a new and thriving community.

"There has been careful planning to ensure the school will meet local children’s educational needs, whilst also offering shared facilities to benefit all the residents.

“The County Council is proud of its commitment to get children into their parents’ first choice of school.”

Liz Clutterbrook, Service Delivery Lead, Major Capital Projects, said: “It’s an incredible honour to be involved in bringing forth from mere drawings and ideas a structure that will stand for many lifetimes and benefit the residents in Oxfordshire for years to come. My thanks and good wishes go out to everyone lucky enough to be involved in this project”

Adrian Grocock, managing director of the building contractor Bowmer & Kirkland, added: “Bowmer & Kirkland are delighted to be appointed Principal Contractor on the Cherry Fields Primary School project for Oxfordshire County Council, where throughout the pre-construction phase we have worked together in a collaborative environment with all parties in order to enable construction works to now commence on site.

“We are looking forward to working both with Oxfordshire County Council and their advisors throughout the construction phase of the project to provide new quality educational facilities for the local area that we can all be proud of.”

The school will be accepting applications for places in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 for September 2020.

Those interested in applying should go to the Cherry Fields website - www.cherryfieldsprimaryschool.org/1801/school-admissions.