Willmott Dixon has started construction work on the £61m The Oakley School in Leamington Spa as part of Warwickshire County Council (WCC)’s plans to make major additions to the community’s education provisions.

Construction of the new school facilities will be completed in summer 2024, with Oakley School pupils taking occupation at the start of term in September 2024.

Secured through the Scape construction framework, The Oakley Grove School will be an all-through facility that will comprise a 34-place nursery, 420-place primary and 900-place secondary school with SEND provision.

The project will see Willmott Dixon invest heavily in the local community, with £1.5m committed through social value activities such as delivering careers talks, work experience, traineeships for those not in employment, education or training and creating local job opportunities.

Michelle Cotterill, director for Willmott Dixon, said:

“The Oakley School project is a major investment into the next generation of Warwickshire’s education offering and we are proud to have been selected alongside our delivery partners to bring the development to fruition. As a cornerstone employer with Coventry and Warwickshire Careers Enterprise we’re looking forward to engaging with other schools and delivering careers talks and guidance, curriculum support, safety talks, site visits, CV advice, mock interviews, work experience and much more to support the local community.”

The design adopts a fabric-first approach to reduce energy consumption and limit carbon emissions in operation. The building will also feature air source heat pumps and PV panels as part of a renewable energy strategy.

Cllr Kam Kaur, Warwickshire’s portfolio holder for education, said:

“The investment in the all-through school at Oakley Grove demonstrates a huge commitment by the County Council to education in that area and to meeting the massive increase in need for school places that we will soon be seeing.

“As well as providing a state-of-the-art facility that will be the hub of superb learning opportunities, the project is also delivering a great deal of social value, particularly for some young people who are gaining valuable training, employment opportunities and other work experience. We are grateful to Willmott Dixon for sharing our commitment to that.

“Similarly, we are very pleased that the building of the school has included environmental factors and the school will be a low carbon setting which is in line with the Council’s own commitment to reducing carbon emissions.”

Mark Robinson, group chief executive at public sector procurement authority Scape, said:

“The new Oakley School project will significantly enhance the lives of young children and their families across the local community. Willmott Dixon’s commitment to social value investment throughout the build to provide work experience and job creation is a testament to the project’s overall investment objectives. I wish both them and Warwickshire County Council the very best as they work towards delivering the school in time for September’s intake in 2024.”

The Oakley School is part of a wider development across the local area comprising over 4,000 new homes and a country park. To facilitate the operation of the school improvements will be made to Oakley Wood Road. The school development will also provide a stand-alone sports hall, several natural turf pitches and an all-weather pitch which are both for educational and community use. All playing surfaces will be delivered to Sport England design standards.