Fri, 01 June 2012
The new Heston primary school has been officially opened, marking the end of a £24 million, four-year project, to provide state-of-the art facilities for local children.
The new two form-entry school replaces the former Heston Infant and Nursery School, and Heston Junior School, and was completed as part of a project that also saw a new block built for the Heston Community School.
The new building has been designed to minimise disruption from aircraft noise from the Heathrow flightpath, and features moveable partition walls as well as external balconies and multi-use games area to offer greater flexibility for teaching.
Cllr Jagdish Sharma, leader of the council, who officially opened the new building, said: “I am delighted to be here today to officially open this wonderful new primary school.
“After ‘making do’ with inadequate buildings for far too long it’s wonderful to see many years of hard work finally completed.
“Now, this new primary school stands on the site of the old, outdated Norwood Block, and provides first class, modern facilities for teachers, pupils and students who now have the chance to teach and learn in modern buildings, fit for the 21st century.
Work began on redeveloping the site in November 2008, when construction began on the community schools’ new Hogarth Building. The old Norwood Block was then demolished to make way for the new two storey primary school building. The original infant school building has been retained after local residents expressed concern at losing a locally historic building.
Governors, staff of the existing schools and residents were involved in the consultation for the design of the new building to ensure that it provides the best opportunities for pupils in the future.
The construction project has been overseen by the council, and was carried out by Apollo Education.