King James’s School Blog
Welcome to the first instalment of our new blog which will track the progress of construction at King James’s School. The £5.25m project will see an expansion of the school. As announced in our previous post, the contractor took possession of the works area on Monday 29th March 2021 and has been working to clear the site ready for the new building.
Firstly, the contractor took advantage of the two-week Easter break to set up and secure the site, safely separating it from the rest of the school. Since then it has been dig, dig, dig as soil was excavated and removed from the area to create the space for the new building. Credit goes to a member of the school staff for this amazing drone image of the site.
Work has now moved on to forming the steepened slope. In the picture you can see the final shape of the slope taking shape. The system employs multiple layers and materials to hold back the slope, which will eventually be made up of approximately 4,800 tons of stone and soil. The finished slope will be stepped and then it will be planted with wildflowers to create a meadow to support wildlife. New guidelines state that projects should not only offset their effect on biodiversity but actually aim to improve it – which is what we are aiming to do here, delivering benefits not only to the children of Kirklees but to our wildlife too.
Despite one of the wettest Mays on record, the contractor has done a great job of maintaining the programme for students to start using the building in January next year. Excitement will continue to build next month as the foundations are cast and the steel frame goes up – so look out for that in our next blog. Also starting soon, will be our works to make the dining and science areas bigger and improve how pupils move around the school. These works will start ASAP, working around students in the existing building before really pressing on through the summer holidays