The Cabinet at Essex County Council has agreed to fund a partial rebuild of Cedar Hall Special School in Thundersley, which will see temporary buildings replaced with new state-of-the-art learning facilities that will operate with Net-Zero carbon emissions.
Temporary classrooms currently on the site will be removed and replaced with 4 general classrooms, an Art room, a combined Hair & Beauty / Textiles classroom, a combined Construction / Mechanics classroom, Library, Staff Room, Changing Rooms, 2 Staff Offices / Meeting Rooms, 3 Group Rooms, stores, toilets and cloak areas. Within the main school, an existing Staff Office and Resource room will be also remodelled to enable the Hall to be extended to provide additional space.
Work on the site is due to begin in the summer and although the cost of the works has not yet been confirmed it is understood to be an investment of several million pounds. The work will hopefully be ready for the start of the autumn term.
Mayor of Castle Point Pat Hunts commented:
“This is wonderful news. We are blessed with excellent special schools in Castle Point and Cedar Hall is very much in the heart of our local community in Thundersley. I know these new facilities will be very much appreciated by staff and pupils and will help the school continue to maintain the fantastic quality of education and support it gives to local children and young adults with extra learning needs.”
Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Skills and Lifelong Learning at Essex County Council, Conservative Councillor Tony Ball said:
“This investment will make a real improvement to the physical learning environment of this excellent school and is part of our commitment under Everyone’s Essex to achieve educational excellence for all pupils across the county. Not only will the new facilities be state of the art, but they will also be carbon neutral to run, cutting the school’s fuel bills and helping to preserve our environment.”
Rebecca Harris MP commented:
“I am very pleased that Essex County Council have agreed a multi-million pound investment into Cedar Hall School that will see all the temporary classrooms replaced with brand new permanent, state of the art, carbon neutral classrooms.
We are blessed with excellent special schools in our Borough and Cedar Hall does fantastic work ensuring local children and young people with learning difficulties get an excellent education. This investment will make a real difference to pupils and staff and well done to all those at the school and Essex County Council who worked very hard to make it happen.”