Thousands of pupils in Wolverhampton will be going back to stunning new schools with the latest part of a multi-million programme having been completed.

Phase 2 of Wolverhampton's £270 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) has been completed this summer with 4 schools benefiting from brand new facilities and major refurbishments.

St Edmund's Catholic Academy, Colton Hills Community School, Moreton School and Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Sports College were officially "handed over" by the Local Education Partnership which the Council operates in partnership with Carillion to the Authority on behalf of the schools, marking a completion of the works in time for the new term.

New facilities and improvements across schools include new classrooms, science labs, new sports facilities, state of the art ICT equipment, new lecture theatres and refurbished sixth form areas.

This phase of the programme represents an investment of more than £30 million.

In addition to this, more than £8 million worth of Phase 3 schemes have also been completed ready for the new school year.

These include the 3 Pupil Referral Units - The Braybrook Centre, The Orchard Centre and Midpoint Centre - which have been co-located on the site of the Parkfields centre.

The refurbishments of New Park and Penn Hall Special Schools have also been completed and handed over.

Some new facilities at Moseley Park, Smestow School, North East Wolverhampton Academy, Westcroft Sport and Vocational College, Aldersley High, St Peter's Collegiate CE and Wolverhampton Girls' High School, which also form part of Phase 3, have also been opened.

All of this follows the successful completion and launch of the Sample Phase and Phase 1 of the BSF programme, which saw more than £125 million invested in 7 schools that were completely rebuilt or refurbished and opened in September last year.

These schools were Highfields School, The King's CE School, South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy, Coppice Performing Arts School, Wednesfield High School, Tettenhall Wood and Penn Fields Schools.

Councillor Phil Page, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Learning, said: "This is yet another proud moment for the city.

"The completion of Phase 2 of BSF is a significant landmark and follows on from the hugely successful openings of the Phase 1 schools last year.

"Wolverhampton's BSF programme is moving along very well and what's even more pleasing is that some of the Phase 3 projects have also been completed - meaning even more children and young people will benefit from excellent new facilities from the start of this term that will only help them achieve greater things.

"This is proof that we are delivering on the promise that we made right from the very start of this programme and everyone involved is justifiably proud of this success."

  • released: Thursday 5 September, 2013