Silverwood School main building to be refurbished following successful bid for DfE funding
Wiltshire Council has received confirmation from the Department for Education (DfE) that Silverwood School in Rowde is one of 239 schools that have been selected for rebuild or refurbishment as part of the School Rebuilding Programme.
Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Education said: "This announcement is excellent and very welcome news. It will allow us to fulfil our commitment to ensuring that all young people in Wiltshire get the best start in life.
"Earlier this year we submitted a bid to the DfE School Rebuilding Programme for the complete refurbishment of the Grade II listed school building on the Silverwood Rowde site. The building needs complete refurbishment, over all three floors both structurally and internally.
"We have been told that the schools announced as part of the programme this month will be reviewed and prioritised according to condition need and other relevant criteria. The DfE will start working with the highest priority schools between April 2023 and January 2024, with a view to completing those projects soon after."
The School Rebuilding Programme aims to identify and replace (or significantly refurbish) buildings across England and provide, safe modern buildings in line with the DfE's specifications to help provide effective education. The rebuilds and refurbishments will create modern educational environments and will be greener, helping meet the government's net zero target.
The work is in addition to the build to create new classes and additional facilities to provide a high quality provision for 350 pupils at the Rowde campus by Autumn 2023 - Topping out ceremony marks key milestone for Silverwood School build.
Once the new build is completed, the Grade II listed building will remain in full use. The listed building will have classrooms on the ground floor and an enterprise zone where the students will run a shop/café for life skills. From the ground floor the school will also be running an in-reach/out-reach programme so that Silverwood can support inclusion for other mainstream schools. The smaller upper floors will be used as offices for staff, meeting rooms and consultation rooms for visiting health professionals.
You can see all the background information on the DfE School Rebuilding Programme here - School rebuilding programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
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