On Wednesday 21st February, Chilmington Green School held a special ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of its new building. Representatives from the Department for Education, Kent County Council, United Learning, building contractor Bowmer and Kirkland as well as the Councillor for Ashford Rural West, Charlie Simkins, joined students and staff at the special event which saw construction get underway.
Once complete, Chilmington Green School’s new building will offer students a fantastic learning environment. It will include nine science labs, spaces for creative and performing arts, design technology workspaces, a purpose-built library and dedicated Sixth Form areas. It will also have excellent sports facilities, with a sports hall, activity studio and outdoor pitches. To reflect the school’s mission to ‘operate net carbon zero’, the theme of sustainability has been incorporated into the design.
Significant groundworks have been taking place onsite over the past few months but this ceremony marked the official start of construction by Bowmer and Kirkland.
The school, which opened last September with a full Year 7 cohort, will grow by a year group each year and will eventually cater for 1,140 students aged 11-18. The school was oversubscribed for admissions for September 2024 and students will be informed if they have a place at the school on National Offer Day on 1st March.
Jonathan Rutland, Principal of Chilmington Green School, said:
“It is fantastic to see construction get underway and I would like to thank the contractor Bowmer and Kirkland for getting the project to this point.
“We are all very excited about our new building which will enable us to enhance the educational opportunities available to our students. The building will be fully equipped with the resources and facilities needed to bring our curriculum alive and allow us to deliver an outstanding learning experience for our students.
“We will be following the construction with great interest as the new building emerges and takes shape. We feel incredibly fortunate to have a brand new building built around the needs of our school community and we can’t wait to move in.
“Whilst we only opened six months ago, we have quickly established a thriving, supportive and friendly school community. Our Year 7 students are reaping the benefits of being our founding students and we are excited to welcome our new cohort in September so that we can continue to build our community.”