Sneak preview as £26m school becomes engineering showcase

Forge Valley School was constructed under the Building Schools for the Future scheme to replace the previous Wisewood and Myers Grove secondaries in north Sheffield, which both shut at the end of this summer term.

The merger of the two schools, which was agreed by Sheffield Council’s previous Labour administration, was highly controversial but eventually went ahead after threats that stopping the process would lead to the entire £350m local building schools for the future programme being scrapped.

Building work on the £26.5m school, on the site of the former Myers Grove school in Stannington, has been carried out by Vinci Construction.

The company also arranged for year 11 pupils from Dinnington Comprehensive in Rotherham to visit the site.

The 25 schoolchildren were taking part in an engineering science project to try to increase their knowledge of engineering careers.

Vinci Construction’s regional director Keith Shivers, said: “This was a one-off opportunity to get youngsters to experience first-hand how they can apply the physics and maths they have learned in the classroom to the real world.

“There is a national shortage of pupils going into engineering, so this seemed a great way of showing some potential engineers of the future just how what they have learned in the classroom can be used in reality.”

Councillor Jackie Drayton, Sheffield Council’s cabinet member for children, added: “Anything which brings the classroom to life is a good thing.

“I welcome young people getting a head start in this kind of field, especially when there is clearly a lack of youngsters going into areas like engineering.”

The new Forge Valley Community School, which consists of three and four-storey classrooms around a central atrium and adjacent performance hall, will take on 1,050 pupils aged between 11 and 16 when it opens in for the forthcoming autumn term.

There will also be provision for 300 sixth-form pupils.

Meanwhile, the former Wisewood School building, off Ben Lane, will be turned into a sports centre, a base for youth and community facilities, and provide offices for local police.

A sports hall on the school site, which was built only seven years ago, will be kept for community use and an all-weather pitch will also be created.

In order to look after the site, a management trust will be created which will include members of the local community.

In all, rebuilding or extensive renovation works have been announced at 16 Sheffield secondary schools under the building schools for the future scheme.

The most recent developments came last month, when it was announced that an £18m rebuilding project would take place at Birley Community College, and £9m would also be spent on modernising buildings at Notre Dame School in Fulwood.

Officials say the Notre Dame project should be completed by February 2013.

The national £55bn building schools for the future drive to improve the country’s secondary schools was introduced by the Labour government, but was scrapped as unaffordable by the coalition Government when it came into power last year.

Sheffield’s programme escaped unscathed because it was advanced to “financial close”.

Barnsley’s projects will also continue for the same reason, but 22 schools in Doncaster and seven in Rotherham were told that funding has been withdrawn for refurbishment projects.