After a long time planning, staff and pupils at Siddington C of E Primary School are looking forward to welcoming the construction team from Barnwood on Monday 23 October and bracing themselves for change. The team from Barnwood will be on site for approximately one year.

 

‘I am truly excited by the educational possibilities that the construction of the legacy building offers. I have appointed two student Construction Representatives and Nature Committee Members. These children will join me in meetings to represent the school community. They will then support me in feeding back relevant information to the rest of the school. One of my core aims is to put Siddington C of E Primary School on the map: I know that this project will fully support that aim.’  Louise Lennox, Headteacher.

 

The construction work is a part of The Steadings development. The new accommodation at Siddington C of E Primary School will initially house the new Steadings Primary School in its infancy from September 2025, before it moves onto its permanent site in 2027 or 2028. Significantly, the development will leave Siddington C of E Primary School with a legacy building. This will provide a superb and much needed new school hall, which will also be a flexible learning space, and a new reception area.

 

‘We are working closely with Bathurst Developments Limited, Gloucestershire County Council and the Diocese of Gloucester to ensure the project can be delivered with the minimum of disruption to Siddington C of E Primary School and its local community. It will, however, bring about much needed improvements to the school.' Chiquita Henson, Trust Lead (CEO),

 

The construction work on site at Siddington C of E Primary School is scheduled to be completed by December 2024. The first phase will be enabling works which will help prepare the site for the new building. This phase will also join the school to mains sewerage, remove the septic tank and improve surface water drainage. In January 2024, the second phase will begin as the ground is prepared and foundations go in for the new school building.

 

Parents, staff, governors and members of the local community are invited to an open meeting on Monday 23 October at Siddington C of E Primary School at 5pm. Chiquita Henson, Trust Lead (CEO), will share The Corinium Education Trust’s plans to manage this development and open the new Steadings Primary School in September 2025.

 

The Trust is also actively involved in discussions with other primary schools in the area and Gloucestershire County Council with regard to primary place planning. This will help us ensure that no school within the Trust or wider area is at risk as a consequence of the opening of the new primary school. The Steadings Primary School will have a defined catchment area and we plan to consult on a draft admissions policy in the new year.

 

We appreciate many in the area will have questions about this development and how, from September 2025, the two schools will work together on the same site.