Signed post points way ahead to school future

Kelvin Hall School, in Hull, is to be replaced with a new building in Easter 2012 which will allow the school to increase in size by a third to around 1,500 pupils.

It is being redeveloped as part of Hull Council's Building Schools for the Future project which will see around 400m invested on replacing or refurbishing the city's secondary schools.

Yesterday pupils at Kelvin Hall between 11 and 13-years-old were able to sign some of the steelwork in the school's playground.

David Martin, Hull Council's BSF project director, said: "The event provided a brilliant opportunity for the students to get involved with the construction of their new school building.

"Students representing each year group have now been able to sign the steel that will form part of the main structure.

"It is wonderful to see another outstanding Hull BSF school starting to take shape.

"As a result Kelvin Hall will accommodate a bigger intake in September 2011 and the new building, due to open in Easter 2012, will provide a fantastic facility for the whole community to enjoy."

Hull Council had its BSF funding approved by the former Government before the General Election and it has escaped the worse of the cuts to the project announced by Education Secretary Michael Gove this summer.

Six councils in the region which had been accepted onto the national school rebuilding programme: Bradford, Doncaster, Kirklees, North East Lincolnshire, Rotherham, Wakefield all had the funding they were expecting – worth around 1bn – cancelled.

Hull's plans were not included in the cuts because the project had already reached "financial close" and been signed off by Ministers.

Earlier this month, however, the authority announced it has been told by the Government to identify "efficiency savings" in their BSF project by December 20.

Hull's BSF team say they have not been given a target of how much they need to save amid reports that projects will be cut by as much as 40 per cent. The council has said it is committed to opening six new secondary schools next September.