Stretford: Work starts on replacement of special school

The Department for Education appointed Kier Construction to the project at St John Vianney Special School on Rye Bank Road.

The replacement of the special school for around 160 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) was successful in the first round of the government's School Rebuilding Programme due to its poor physical condition.

The new site is set to be slightly to the south of the old site and it is set to include primary classrooms and secondary classrooms, specialised classrooms for subjects such as D&T and IT, sensory rooms, therapy rooms and a sports hall.

It is set to be net zero thanks to additions such as air-source pumps and solar panels.
Aidan Moloney, the headteacher, expressed his excitement about the development.

He said: "The school community are excited about the development and we have worked with Kier Construction and their partners to ensure the project will develop a state-of-the-art facility to meet the needs of our SEND learners. 

"The concept, which we have developed with Kier Construction, will give the children and young people of St John Vianney an outstanding facility to ensure we can deliver our intent to prepare our pupils for their steps into adulthood."

Sean Fenner, the managing director of Kier Construction in the North and in Scotland, said: "We are proud to be working in partnership with the Department for Education to deliver this SEND school. 

"Our experience of delivering innovative school buildings across the UK will ensure we provide an outstanding facility to meet the individual needs of students."

Work is already underway after it started towards the end of last year. 

The new site will be completed in 2026 when the old site will be closed.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.