Dignitaries and developers joined forces to celebrate the start of building a new £4 million primary school at Pease Pottage.
MP for Horsham, Jeremy Quin joined Councillor Nigel Jupp, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, West Sussex County Council, said:
“This is a significant milestone in the building of an excellent new facility for pupils, including those relocating from Warninglid Primary School. “Woodgate Primary School is an important part of our Schools Effectiveness Strategy, which aims to give children and young people the best start in life. I look forward to seeing the first pupils welcomed into the new classrooms when they open next year.”
Both were amongst a number invited guests of the West Sussex homebuilder Thakeham and housing provider Abri Group.
The groundbreaking celebration marked the official start of work on the new £4 million Woodgate Primary School.
The new-build 210-pupil school at Pease Pottage in West Sussex will offer five classrooms and early years nursery provision, a 18m2 main hall, library, multifunctional space and a special educational needs room.
Woodgate Primary School is expected to open to its first pupils at the beginning of the 2021 school year.
Stephen Lodge, Executive Director for Development and Strategic Asset Management at Abri Group said:
“It’s great to be building a school that will offer so much for local children and give them access to state of the art facilities. By building the school first we will have the foundations for the heart of a new community.”
Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham Group, said:
“We have sought to fund and deliver Woodgate Primary School at an early stage of the development. This is because the school will play such a crucial role in inspiring a thriving new community.
“We are grateful to everyone who has played their part in offering feedback and helping us to design a school to make West Sussex proud.”
Two school children from Warninglid Primary School were also guests at the ceremony. Last month, Warninglid Primary School governors welcomed news that their pupils will be amongst the first to attend the new £4 million Woodgate Primary School, when it opens.
The Woodgate development is a joint venture between Thakeham Group and Abri Group. The 45-hectare site is located off Parish Lane to the south of Crawley and to the east of the Moto Service Station in Pease Pottage.
Woodgate includes 619 new homes, a shop and a coffee shop, a community centre, parks and a pavilion.
The development will also provide a new home for locally-based charity, St Catherine’s Hospice.
More information about Woodgate, including infrastructure and the wide-range of community facilities, is available at www.mywoodgate.co.uk