News

Phase one of the new £44 million Kenilworth School and Sixth Form - one of the biggest schools currently in construction in the UK - has been completed.

The school is being delivered on behalf of Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust (KMAT), working in partnership with Warwick District Council,  by Morgan Sindall Construction. The project will see Kenilworth School and  Sixth Form relocated from its two existing sites to a new facility at Southcrest Farm, Glasshouse Lane in Kenilworth.

The new three-storey campus will offer places to 2,200 places students, an increase on current numbers of 440, to help it cater for the growing population in Kenilworth. The build programme is due to be complete in the summer of 2023, with the school opening to existing and new students in September 2023.

The design includes extensive teaching and social provision including two floodlit all-weather-pitches, natural grass pitches and hard-court areas, a dining room with “grab-and-go” options, hall and theatre, community sports and changing facilities and a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) suite.

Solar panels will be installed on the roofs and the car park and drop-off zone will include electric vehicle charging points, disabled parking and bicycle stores. The scheme includes wild-plant and habitat areas including an orchard, perimeter hedges and trees.

Once the works are complete, the community and local sports clubs will be able to use new sports and leisure facilities and community groups will be able to hire the hall/theatre and other facilities at the school. The local air cadet group, 496 (Kenilworth and Balsall Common) Squadron, will also be invited to share the facilities.

Richard Fielding, area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “We’re delighted to be

delivering this landmark project on behalf of KMAT and for families living in the Kenilworth area. Schools are absolutely at the heart of the community and the state-of-the-art educational space and sports facilities consolidated on a single site will make a huge difference.”

Phase one of the enabling works is now complete, which involved cut and fill techniques to level the previous farmland. The Morgan Sindall Construction team is now working on the school’s steel frame.

At the development’s peak, there will be 200 people on site, a proportion of whom will be made up of local labour as part of Morgan Sindall Construction’s commitment to communities. The scheme will also employ an apprentice supply chain manager from Kenilworth Sixth Form who will join the contractor’s growing legion of graduates and apprentices on site. 

Pupils are being engaged in the ongoing works.  “So far, we have gifted a shovel engraved with the names of those involved in the ground-breaking process and time capsules for the school to bury for future pupils to discover,” added Richard Fielding. 

“We are also planning to sponsor the school’s rugby team and contribute towards its upcoming trip to Canada. We are working closely with ecologists on site to protect local wildlife, including newts and hedgehogs, and we will replant the existing bluebells. The school’s green team joins us occasionally and it’s extremely encouraging witnessing how important the environment is to them.”

Over the past five years, Morgan Sindall Construction has created over 65,000 student places at over 170 schools around the UK.