How we work with schools to get education settings ready for September

At this time of year, schools across the UK are closed for the Summer. While the children enjoy a well deserved break from school, for us, it’s go time! From June, we’ve been working on schools across Sussex to make sure they’re in tip top shape for the next academic year.

For some sites, that has meant carrying out small works such as replacing windows and doors, while others have got new toilet facilities or in some cases, a whole new classroom!

Lifting a whole classroom unit into place

For Phoenix Academy, the end of the school year was a surprisingly exciting one as students watched seven modular classroom units being moved into their school. Although some of the children wanted to get really close to what was going on, the work was carried out completely safely behind Heras fencing and within our approved contractor’s compound.

Once all seven units were in place, we were able to start refurbishment work to get the classroom ready for use in September. In addition, M&E services were completed to ensure the classroom had supply from the main school building.

Making sure the work causes the least disruption possible

While a lot of the work that we carry out takes place while the school is closed, sometimes works need to start before the end of term to ensure that they’ll be finished in time for September.

We also started work at Grovelands Community Primary School before the end of term as we had 63 windows and 6 doors to replace. For this particular project, we replaced all the doors while the school was open and started on the windows once the Summer holidays had started.

In cases like this, it’s crucial that we work to strict deadlines and work in the most efficient way possible. For these works, that meant waiting until the school had closed to put up the rest of the scaffolding and replacing the windows.

As we’ve spoken about before, in cases where we have to work while the school is operational we always work closely with the school to identify how we can cause the least amount of disruption to them as possible. When building an extension for River Beach Primary School, we were very pleased that the headteacher said that “as a headteacher [he has] experience working alongside many contractors on building projects and Cheesmur were without a doubt, [his] best experience so far”. You can read more about the work we did at River Beach and how we work with schools here.

This Summer has seen us working on over 12 other schools, colleges and preschool centres across Sussex. Making sure that each of them is ready for students to return to in the new school year.

You can read about other work we’ve completed within the education sector on the education page on our website and for any further information, please contact the Projects Team at our Head Office via our contact form.

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