Plans for new £14.1 million Hans Price Academy

A WESTON-SUPER-MARE academy is to be knocked down and rebuilt thanks to a £14.1 million Government cash windfall.

The Cabot Learning Federation, which runs Hans Price Academy, is one of 80 schools across the UK to receive the Government cash to improve and replace their buildings.

The scheme will see the existing school building, built in the 1950s, demolished in phases and replaced with a new high tech complex fit for the 21st century.

The new, two storey academy will be built on the existing school site and the current tennis courts.

The existing sports hall and the school's newly refurbished Sandringham building will remain in place.

Assemblies will be held in the sports hall and temporary buildings will be used to accommodate some students as the work progresses.

The new building will include open plan classrooms, a new theatre with tiered seating, art barn and exhibition space and an experimental science laboratory which can cater for up to 90 students at a time.

Hans Price Academy currently has around 750 students on roll but the new building will be big enough to accommodate up to 1200 students.

Plans for the project have been submitted to North Somerset Council and, if agreed, work is due to start on site in January and be completed by September 2014.

The work will be carried out by North Somerset Council's main school contractor, Willmott Dixon.

Hans Price Academy principal, Armando Di Finizio, said: "We are delighted with the appointment of Willmott Dixon as construction partners for our new academy building.

"They have developed an excellent design to meet out requirements for 21st century learning. "The proposed design provides a rich variety of educational settings that will meet the needs of generations of students in Weston-Super-Mare for many years to come.

"Work will start on site, subject to planning, early in 2013 with completion planned for September 2014.

"There will be detailed consultation with our community and all partners in the next six weeks and details will be published soon.

 "This is an exciting time for the academy and for Weston-Super-Mare."

The academy opened in May 2011 following the closure of Wyvern Community School, which was judged as failing.

Since it converted, the school has seen a major turnaround in its fortunes, with Ofsted inspectors saying it was making 'good progress.'

This year the academy posted its best GCSE results ever with the number of students gaining five GCSE passes from A*-C including English and maths doubling from 23 per cent in 2011 to 44 per cent this year.

Willmott Dixon director of operations, John Boughton, said: "This is going to be a truly exceptional academy once the works are completed with a 21st century environment for 21st century learning"

A public consultation for people to find out more about the development plans is being held at the academy on September 6 from 6.30pm-8.30pm.

Details of the design will be on display with members of the project team available to answer your questions.'