Wokingham Borough Council has won an Education Business Award for its work on the £4.4million expansion of Addington School in Woodley.
It scooped the School Procurement Award at a virtual ceremony on Thursday (26 November) to recognise the sixth form block constructed at the school, which opened in September.
The prize recognises a project where a school has worked with an outside agency or local authority to refine its buying practices and increase value to the taxpayer.
Education closer to home
The school and council worked with principal contractors REDS10 and HLM Architects on the project, which will allow 50 more students with special educational needs and/or disabilities to attend school closer to home.
A teaching café, teaching kitchen, business enterprise room, social space, sensory room, school hall and social space are all part of the building.
The project also included two new multi-use games areas (MUGAs), a new sensory path, new playground and an expanded car park.
Eco-friendly construction
Seventy per cent of the building work for the new block was completed modularly offsite, a decision made to reduce disruption to the school and its students, and for its environmental benefits.
This method reduces the number of vehicle trips required and cuts down on the amount of waste produced as part of the project compared to traditional construction, which helps Wokingham Borough Council towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
An outstanding facility
“The whole project to expand Addington School and provide more SEND school places closer to families in the borough has been a triumph,” said Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive member for children’s services.
“It’s fantastic to see this outstanding facility win awards, as well as recognising the hard work of our staff and partners, especially for providing value for money for the taxpayer, given we are the lowest funded unitary authority in the country.”
The awards, run by Education Business Magazine, saw prizes handed out across 18 different categories. The annual event has been running since 1998 and reports on the success of schools, across a wide range of categories, each year.
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