BSF Work well under way at Coppice

Work is well underway on the £17.5m transformation of Coppice Performing Arts School

The school is undergoing a major makeover as part of Wolverhampton City Council’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which is transforming education for secondary age pupils in the city.

Carillion, the Wolverhampton-based support services and construction company which is the lead contractor for the BSF programme, has completed the first phase of the work, with more than 120 people busy on site at any one time.

As a result, students are already able to enjoy a new Discovery Zone which includes state-of-the-art Science labs and Maths classrooms and which opened for the first time at the start of term.

Brickwork and cladding has been completed on the school’s new sports hall with work now underway to fit out the interior, including the changing rooms. It should be ready for use this autumn.

The next phase of the build includes the creation of a new Performance Zone to include an iconic elliptical theatre block and a three-storey Communications Zone which will bring together Business, English, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages and Social Sciences.

Headteacher Janice Fletcher said: “Coppice Performing Arts School is already benefitting from an amazing Discovery Zone which is providing the state-of-the-art learning environments we were promised.

“The new learning environments truly enhance the educational experiences of our students, and the brand new Coppice Theatre will also significantly enhance the school and community performance opportunities that will be available in the future.”

The complete refurbishment is due to be completed by February 2013. Overall, Wolverhampton’s £270m BSF programme will see the rebuilding or refurbishment of 25 schools and academies in four phases between now and 2014.

Members of Wolverhampton City Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel inspected the work at Coppice Performing Arts School yesterday. Pictured in the new facilities are pupils Ryan Downing and Alyce Russell with (standing, left to right): Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel Councillor Julie Hodgkiss, Headteacher Janice Fletcher, Vice Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel Councillor Pat Patten, Building Schools for the Future Programme Director Gerard Stone and Carillion Project Manager Sam Hudson.