New £6.5m scheme to deliver 1,000 school places across Notts

A total of 1,000 more school places are being created across the county thanks to a £6.5 million scheme delivered by contractor GF Tomlinson for its client, Nottinghamshire County Council.
Pupils at the Forest Town Primary and Nursery School, Jack Tyler and Macie Kimberley tip their hats to the building of a  new foundation unit at their School.Pupils at the Forest Town Primary and Nursery School, Jack Tyler and Macie Kimberley tip their hats to the building of a  new foundation unit at their School.
Pupils at the Forest Town Primary and Nursery School, Jack Tyler and Macie Kimberley tip their hats to the building of a new foundation unit at their School.

Growing primary school pupil numbers are putting a strain on local authorities across the country as they try and accommodate the increase within their limited budgets.

But Nottinghamshire County Council says it has been tackling the issue head on by using empa – the East Midlands Property Alliance - to deliver the refurbishment and extension projects at ten of its primary schools.

Clients save an average of 9 per cent on each project by using empa and are guaranteed to see their schemes delivered on time and within budget – vital for public sector bodies with such reduced finances.

Among the 10 schools receiving new and refurbished classrooms are Forest Town Primary, Newstead Primary and Kiekby Woodhouse Primary.

Head of empa, Alan Coole, said: “These are a fantastic set of high quality classrooms being delivered at schools throughout the county, creating much needed extra pupil space and wonderful teaching and learning environments.”

Chris Higginson, team manager for property design at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “I am delighted that many of these challenging, but extremely rewarding projects are being delivered so successfully by Nottinghamshire County Council’s in-house property team, working jointly with empa partner G F Tomlinson.”

Andy Sewards, director at G F Tomlinson, said: “By carrying out modular construction off site this meant there was minimal disruption to the day to day running of each school.”