News

In 2008 work started on a comprehensive rebuilding and refurbishment of Dane Court Grammar School. The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme provided tens of millions of pounds to carry out structural and technological changes.
Three years later, and not far off the planned completion date, the finishing touches were applied during summer half term of 2011. There follows a story in pictures starting with a few memories of our old buildings.

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November 2008: Prior to the builders moving in, several surveys were carried out including an archaeological investigation of the open ground to be developed. These ceramic vessels were quite a find:

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Spring 2009. Following the demolition of the the Central Block, the school was divided by a great muddy expanse. The ground was prepared revealing some less important archaeological finds:

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Meanwhile the school learned of the marvellous new building through a variety of plans, artists impressions, models and computer animations:

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The sports hall was one of the first sections to be built. At it's closest point it was only two metres from my main teaching room (workshop W5). I recorded some of the early stages of the climbing wall construction in March and April of 2009:

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Throughout construction the building contractors provided opportunities for staff and students to visit the building site and learn a little about the process. In June 2009 a group of A-level graphics students toured the site and met the architect:

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We moved into the newly built section of the school in January 2010. At the same time we evacuated the East Wing and left it to be refurbished by the contractors. For much of 2010 the school operated in very close proximity to the refurbishing operations but there was a temporary dividing wall between the two. Few staff and students got to cross the divide. Here you can see what was happening and how the same view appears now:

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Thanks to Andrew Roscow we have a record of the last piece of the old West Wing being demolished (the eastern end of workshop W8 and Physics labs above).
For safety reasons (the newly built Computing and English block was less than two metres from the remaining structure) this was carried out during the school holiday; a few days before Christmas 2010:

Do you have images to contribute to this record? Contact Mr Alderson