The construction of the new £13million school for Blaenavon reached a significant milestone yesterday (Monday 4 July), when a special ‘topping out’ ceremony was held.
The ceremony marked the final element of work on the highest roof point of the school, which is on target to open in spring 2012.
The 450-place Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School will replace the existing schools and accommodate all primary school-aged children from the town. It will also feature a 130-place nursery. Its name was chosen following a competition for local school pupils.
The leader of Torfaen council, councillor Bob Wellington, said: “This is another significant milestone on our journey to provide the children of Blaenavon with a first-class learning environment to help them reach their full potential.
“There is a real positive atmosphere among the children who can see the excellent progress being made. I am sure everyone, from staff, parents to the wider community, shares their excitement at the prospect of a new community focused school with first-class facilities and a landmark design.
“Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School will be at the cutting edge of education, proving facilities to meet modern teaching and learning needs.
“The design and construction of this state-of-the-art community school will provide an inspirational place to learn and I am absolutely delighted the construction is progressing so well.”
The school will have a strong community focus. It will be physically linked to community leisure facilities, including a two-court sports hall, dance studio, fitness suite and external multi-use games area.
Kier’s south Wales operations director Martyn Osborne said: “The topping out of the Blaenavon Community Campus marks another successful milestone in our on-going relationship with Torfaen. We have now reached the half-way point in building this fantastic new facility for the students in the area.
“In the process, we have developed important relationships with the community and collaborated on a range of activities to improve opportunities for local people.
“We will be working very hard now to complete the school which is going to be a huge asset for Blaenavon.”
