Double bid success for Churchill
Staff and students at Churchill Academy & Sixth Form are celebrating the award of £1.8m in additional funding from the government’s Condition Improvement Fund to further enhance the learning environment at the outstanding rural school.
The Academy’s two successful bids will see the redevelopment of classrooms used to teach History, Geography, RE, Politics, French and Spanish, as well as new social spaces and toilet facilities for students. The second bid will provide a secure perimeter for the site, to further secure the safeguarding of students at the 11-18 school, which was rated outstanding by Ofsted in 2015.
The funding continues the substantial redevelopment of the Academy’s learning environment over recent years. The original 1956 school buildings have now been completely demolished, replaced in phases by the Alan Turing Building for Business Studies, Computing and Social Sciences, and the Athene Donald Building for Science and Technology.
Churchill’s bids were chosen from 4,350 applications made across the country in this year’s round. 1,476 bids were successful, with the Education and Skills Funding Agency releasing a total of £434m to improve schools across the country. The bids from Churchill Academy & Sixth Form were the only projects in North Somerset to be successful this year.
“We are thrilled to have been successful again in our bids for funding,” commented Headteacher, Chris Hildrew. “It’s clear that the ESFA recognise the progress we have made over the past five years in transforming the learning environment for our students, and understand that these projects will continue that journey. At a time of such difficulty and challenge, it’s great to have some good news to celebrate!”