Essex County Council’s Head Teacher of the Year, Mrs Karen Hammond, was joined this week by County Council Chairman John Aldridge, Clacton North County Cllr Andy Wood, and Phelan Construction Chairman Kieran O’Phelan to celebrate the breaking of the ground at Ravens Academy’s for the new £2.15 million classroom block.
The extension at Ravens Academy, Clacton, will provide six new classrooms and a room for science or cooking. The school’s capacity will be boosted to 420 primary school pupils.
Cllr John Aldridge said:
“It was a pleasure to attend this event and be part of a bright future for Ravens Academy. I know this work will benefit countless pupils from the local area for years to come, and I wish them every success at the new facility when it opens.”
Cllr Ray Gooding, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said:
“This is a fantastic example of the investment we are making to create thousands more school places across Essex. To date, we have a fantastic track record of being able to offer the vast majority of pupils a place at one of their parents’ top preferences. Ravens Academy is a popular and successful environment for learning, and this work will allow more pupils than ever to be a part of that.”
Mrs Hammond said:
“It will be fantastic to have the extra room and the amphitheatre for outside drama activities will be lovely. We have no doubt that this significant improvement to our academy will have a wonderful impact on all our pupils, staff and the wider community. We are very excited about what the future holds.”
They were joined by pupils, Earl Richards from the Academy Transformation Trust, members of the Essex County Council Infrastructure Delivery Team, and Phelan Construction, the Clacton based contractor that will construct the project.