Kettering school's new sixth form block 'progressing well'

A Kettering school says great progress is being made in a project to build a state-of-the-art sixth form centre despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Work is ongoing at Kettering Science Academy in Deeble Road with the building starting to take real shape ahead of its planned opening at the start of the next academic year.

The three-storey centre, which overlooks the sports field, will be connected to the existing building by a covered walkway and will have classrooms, a dining and common room, a cafe, library and study areas, flooded with light from its glass frontages.

Constructors Willmott Dixon have put enhanced working practices into place to ensure social distancing and made contingency plans to ensure that suppliers and contractors were safely on site so that the build was able to continue as close to schedule as possible as the nation tackled the coronavirus crisis.

A group of delegates including the school's principal and the Brooke Weston Trust chief executive recently toured the 'university style' campus to see how work was progressing.

Trust chief executive Dr Andrew Campbell said: "This visit shows how well the build is progressing.

"We are immensely grateful to Willmott Dixon and the suppliers for being agile and compliant in their response to Covid-19.

"Their will to keep the build progressing will enable our students and staff to occupy this amazing space in the autumn.

"This visit has emphasised what a huge asset it will be for Kettering Science Academy, which is a school with very big ambitions for its students."

Jerry Major, regional framework manager at Willmott Dixon, said: "In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the site team has come up with creative solutions to ensure the project continues with the right materials arriving on site at the right time, as well as ensuring full adherence to social distancing and the CLC’s standard operating procedures.

"It is a pleasure to have visited the site today with Kettering Science Academy and Northamptonshire County Council to see the high standards that are being set for our industry by our people and partners."

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