Transformation for schools if funding secured

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Sweeping plans to demolish and rebuild large chunks of Maidenhead secondary schools have been announced by the Royal Borough.

Desborough, Altwood, Cox Green, Furze Platt and Newlands could all be transformed under the £76.4m proposals revealed last week. The bulk of the cash would come from the Government's national programme - Building Schools for the Future (BSF) - which the council wants to join.

Maidenhead schools have been identified as in most need of improvement. Schools in Ascot, Datchet, Wraysbury and Windsor could be overhauled in a second phase.

Cllr Eileen Quick, lead member for children's services said: "If we are invited into the programme and we get the money, it will make huge improvements to the existing buildings and the replacement of several buildings on all of the five Maidenhead sites."

Here is a breakdown of the improvements which could take place if funding is secured.

Newlands Girls' School - Farm Road - About 70 per cent of the school buildings could be demolished and rebuilt. The sports hall, music block and main hall/dining hall would be the few buildings left standing.  

Desborough School - Shoppenhangers Road - About 45 per cent of the school, based on floor area, could be rebuilt. These could include the English, drama, new main and Old Reynolds blocks at the school. The Maudsley, Brooks and New Reynolds blocks could be remodelled. The rest of the buildings - Old Main, music and administration blocks - would only require minor work as they have been refurbished in recent years.

Cox Green School - Highfield Lane - About a quarter of the school would be rebuilt - including the English, music and drama buildings, the gym and sports hall.
A second storey could be added to the rest of the school to address suitability and room size issues.

Furze Platt Senior School - Furze Platt Road - At least 67 per cent could be knocked down with the possibility of keeping the sports hall, art and science blocks and lower school block. However, there is no objection from the school to completely rebuild everything. It could become a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) School if more than 70 per cent is rebuilt which would mean a private company would build the school and take ownership of the site, leasing it back to the council.

Altwood School - Altwood Road - The buildings are not in a bad state and would probably not need much rebuilding work. But the whole school could undergo remodelling and refurbishment.