Countdown to new secondary education era in Bognor

The town's 39m latest community college will officially open on September 1.

Headteacher David Jones said building work on the biggest education project Bognor had seen was on time and on budget.

The college will sweep away the existing two sites '“ on Westloats Lane and Pevensey Road '“ and facilities which date back to the start of the second world war.

"The pupils are excited by the move into the new building," he said. "There's a 'wow' factor in the new college and it's much more evident now.

"This is a huge project and we are very, very privileged it is happening in Bognor. It is a pathfinder school and it is the one and only being built in West Sussex at this time.

"This building will serve the community for a century. Once you get inside, you realise the money has been well spent.

"I have been to a lot of new schools which have glamorous entrances and huge reception areas, but you can see where the money has run out because the classrooms get smaller the further inside you walk.

"We have avoided that and created some facilities which

are incredible."

County councillor Christina Freeman said: "This new college is brilliant.

"This is an integral part of the regeneration of Bognor and so important.

"Education is desperately needed to raise the profile of what we have come to know as an area of deprivation."

Mr Jones gave parish, town and district councillors a

quick computer-generated guided tour of the 21st facilities fit for 1,800 pupils and which are rapidly being finished off Westloats Lane.

The entrance will be a four-storey atrium with a library as its centrepiece to emphasis the focus on learning.

A further atrium will comprise the dining area with maths, science and information computer technology on the three floors above it.

He also highlighted a 150-seat lecture theatre as a valuable resource to attract speakers to inspire pupils in their learning.

Work to combine the college's current upper and lower schools '“ with about 1,450 pupils '“ will take place in July.

The college would focus on five areas, he said. These were: learning, aspirations, raising standards, engagement and respect.

He admitted current standards needed to be improved but said the limited catchment area made it hard to attract teachers and literacy standards were falling among younger pupils because of a lack of reading at home.

The college campus will comprise a nursery, a primary school, the community college, a youth centre, a swimming pool and the Arena sports centre.

n The new primary school which has been created from The Glade Infant and Michael Ayres Junior schools will be named the South Way School after the road in which it stands.

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