News in Ealing
June 2007
George Alagiah to officially open the new Acton High School and Centre for Media Arts
Students will get to hear first-hand about life as a journalist from one of the UK's leading broadcasters, when the new Acton High School building is officially opened on Thursday (28 June).
George Alagiah will be the guest of honour at the opening of the school, which also has specialist media arts status.
Acton's new £22 million high school was built as part of Ealing Council's second round of schools projects funded by Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The £60.8 million PFI deal also includes the redevelopment of Greenford High School and the recently opened Featherstone Primary and Nursery School.
The new Acton High School building is located next to the old site and features state-of-the-art facilities for delivering 21st Century education including specialist suites for media, art, ICT, music and design technology.
The project was delivered by Seafort Ealing Limited, a special purpose company sponsored by King Sturge, NIBC and Costain.
David Archibald, Executive Director for Children and Adults, said: "Acton High is the second of our schools to be unveiled as part of the current round of Private Finance Initiative school improvements.
"I am delighted that students will be able to further their education, in particular in the area of media arts, in a modern building that better caters to their needs.
"This is a tremendous new resource for local children and the wider Acton community."
Head teacher Lesley Hall, who will retire at the end of the current school term, described the new premises as: "The realisation of our long-term planning and vision for the school. We've made so much progress over the last few years but further development of the aspects of our work which had really contributed to our success was becoming really limited by our facilities."
Incoming Head teacher Mandy Golding acknowledged the achievements of her predecessor.
"I'm excited to be joining the school at this time Ofsted has recognised its outstanding achievement and the ICT infrastructure in the new building will enable our staff to deliver 'cutting-edge' teaching and learning for all our students. The school has improved consistently under Lesley's leadership and she leaves behind an excellent staff who are well equipped to take advantage of the new facilities."
The new school was designed by Ellis Williams Architects and constructed by Costain. The ongoing management of the school's facilities will be provided by the MITIE Group.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
· Ealing Council's second PFI scheme was awarded £60.8
million by the Department for Education and Skills to redevelop
Acton High School, Greenford High School and Featherstone Primary
and Nursery School.
· The contract with Seafort Ealing Limited, to design,
build and operate the new schools under the PFI Initiative, was
signed in July 2005.
· Seafort Ealing Limited is a special purpose company
sponsored by King Sturge, NIBC and Costain.
· Acton High School is a medium sized 11-16 mixed
comprehensive. The school has specialist status for media arts and
is also a full service extended school. The students come from a
diverse range of socio-economic and ethnic communities. There are
more than 1,000 pupils on the roll, representing some 30 ethnic
groups speaking 40 different languages.
· The school's latest Ofsted report acknowledged: "The
efficient handling of the building of the replacement school on the
current site, with the minimum disruption for students reflects the
high quality of management and organisation."
