3:30pm Saturday 30th May 2009

Braintree and Witham Times

Ryan McCarthy

The funding has been secured for the biggest ever investment in secondary education in Witham.

Maltings Academy and New Rickstones Academy (NRA) will be transformed with more than £25million being spent on new buildings.

Mike O’Sullivan, Maltings Academy principal, said the buildings will help deliver “world call results” and Jonathan Gillard, NRA principal, said the outstanding facilities will be “worthy of the twenty first century”.

The current sites in Spinks Lane and Conrad Road could be developed early in the new year with work due to be finished by September 2011.

When pupils return from half term on June 1, they are invited, together with local residents, to attend a week long public exhibition of the planning proposals at Witham Library.

Plans will be on display of how the new schools could look with ‘state of the art’ facilities.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “I am delighted the hard work that has gone into preparing for the building of the new academy has come to fruition.

“What we are preparing to embark upon is the securing of quality provision for education and care in south Witham for the foreseeable future generations.

“This is such an important task that we are confident we can deliver on budget and on time.

“The facilities that future generations of students who live in Witham will benefit from will be the best possible to secure world class results.”

Mr Gillard said: “This is exciting news for Witham and its surrounding villages, which will benefit not just students and staff of New Rickstones Academy, but the whole community. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to provide our future generations with outstanding facilities and a learning environment worthy of the twenty first century.”

Planning applications are due to be made to Braintree Council at the end of July.

The building programme has been designed to keep the inconvenience to the two school communities to a minimum and once the work is complete the current schools will be knocked down.