A SCHOOL in Wotton under Edge has been selected as one of 50 education centres set to benefit from the first wave of the Prime Minister’s ten-year rebuilding programme.

The £1billion School Rebuilding Programme is due to deliver 500 rebuilding projects over the next decade.

Katharine Lady Berkeley is one of only two school named in the first 50 projects from the Gloucestershire area, with Thomas Keble in Stroud also benefitting.

On hearing the announcement on Friday, KLB head teacher Tim Rand said: “This investment in our school is much welcomed and will support the school’s aim of providing a modern state of the art learning environment for our students.

"It will deliver a level of investment and change that could never have been realised through our normal funding streams, and will deliver accommodation appropriate for the next 50 years and beyond.

"We look forward to working with everyone involved, not only to ensure the facilities meet the needs of students and staff but also that any work is sympathetic to the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside in which we are located.”

Indications are that building work will begin in the summer of 2022 subject to planning and consents.

Since the Prime Minister announced the programme in June last year, the school has been working closely with the Department for Education to determine the continued suitability of the original buildings, which date from the mid-1960s, in a modern teaching environment.

Staff have also assessed the projected life of some of the remaining existing accommodation.

The project is at an early phase but it is initially envisaged that there will be a rebuild of the original 1960s part of the school.

The input of staff, students, parents and the community will now be sought, to ensure that the school values and needs are considered from the outset in the architectural design work of the new buildings.