Official opening held at new Sixth Form Building at King Ecgbert School

An official opening event was held on 20^th March to celebrate the completion of the new sixth form building at King Ecgbert School in Dore, south-west of Sheffield.

Almost a year after R G Carter first started construction on site the Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Colin Ross marked the occasion with a special ribbon cutting ceremony surrounded by staff and students from the school eager and excited to start gaining the benefit of this new state-of-the-art facility.

“It is with great pride that we open the new sixth form building today. It took only a year to build but the project was many years in the making, so this marks the end of a long journey. I want to pay tribute to our Director of Sixth form, Rebecca McCairns who deserves the credit, along with students, for the detailed and thoughtful interior design specifically to meet the needs of sixth form students.” says Head teacher Paul Haigh “It is exciting to consider all the future opportunities the facility will help provide for our students, inspiring them on their future journey to become the graduate professionals of the future.”

Representatives from the school’s governance, Mercia Learning Trust, Sheffield City Council and members of the build and design team and R G Carter and HLM attended the official celebrations. Further to speeches, guests had the opportunity for a tour of the new sixth form and find out how the students are getting on in the early days of moving into the space.

Rebecca McCairns, Director of Sixth Form at King Ecgbert School said, “This building is all about the future. It has been built for the future with its eco-friendly design and University feel. It will be a place where students genuinely want to come to study; a home away from home. It will house our future medics, lawyers, athletes, artists and hopefully teachers. It will support our current students’ futures and that of the next generation including those in our community.”

Chris French, CEO of Mercia Learning Trust, said: “This new Sixth Form building embodies our commitment to providing cutting-edge educational facilities that inspire and empower our students to reach their full potential. I want to commend King Ecgbert School for their unwavering dedication and vision in bringing this project to fruition, working closely with the Local Authority, Architects, and the construction firm. The journey from concept to completion is a testament to the collaborative efforts of the school’s leadership, staff, students, and the wider community.”

The new 1294 m^2,one-storey building provides King Ecgbert School with a stunning, dedicated modern space for sixth form lessons, with 15 new state of the art classrooms for specialist teaching. Featuring a giant wall-to-floor glass study room, the facility was designed around the feeling of university study spaces enabling students to learn in a relaxed, adult environment with stunning views out over the south Yorkshire countryside.

Students from the school worked closely with HLM Architects and the interior designers in the early stages of the building’s development to ensure the building reflected their needs and tastes. Ideas incorporated into the scheme included soft colour pallets for the classrooms, wooden flooring and the addition of quiet spaces needed by some of its students with learning difficulties. This ethos was continued throughout the construction process with Core Architects and R G Carter.

Tim Owen, Senior Project Manager for R G Carter Lincoln Ltd, said: “We’re extremely proud to have been part of the successful partnership with King Ecgbert School, its Multi Academy Trust Leadership team and Sheffield City Council in delivering this outstanding new sixth form building. It has been wonderful today to see people using and enjoying the new space we have built and for the students to see how their ideas have come to life. We hope it provides both students and staff with the very best learning environment for many years to come.”

Cllr Maroof Raouf, Deputy Chair of the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “It is great to see the opening of the new King Ecgbert School Sixth Form facilities in Dore.”

“Having worked at a number of Sixth Form schools in the city, I know there is more pressure on school provision places than ever before. I know the opening of this new building will be a source of pride for Sheffield, symbolising the commitment we are making to rapid progress and investment in education in this city.

“We have worked alongside our partners to provide the right setting for students to prepare for further and higher education, apprenticeships, or employment. We hope pupils, staff, and parents alike enjoy using these new facilities.”

The Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Colin Ross, who officially opened the building said, “I am very pleased to welcome this new sixth form block to King Ecgbert’s School. This is a very popular and successful school and the new facility will enable the school to increase its overall capacity and meet the demand for places. It is important that as far as possible that students can attend their local school and an increase in student numbers across the South West of the city has made this difficult to achieve without this new building.”

King Ecgbert School is a large 11-18 secondary school of around 1,450 students. The sixth form currently accommodates around 380 students; with A Level and BTEC students moving into this new bespoke sixth form facility, it will enable the school to free up space within the main building, creating room for the increasing level of Year 7 intake of pupils. The facility will also enable the school to meet the demand in catchment for school places. R G Carter Lincoln Ltd secured this project under the YORBuild3 Medium Works Framework. The project is funded by Sheffield City Council.