DESIGNERS UNVEIL PLANS FOR £24 MILLION REDEVELOPMENT OF OASIS ACADEMY COULSDON

DESIGNERS UNVEIL PLANS FOR £24 MILLION REDEVELOPMENT OF OASIS ACADEMY COULSDON

Students and local residents are to get a glimpse of how Oasis Academy Coulsdon will be transformed at a public exhibition event taking place later this week.

On Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, visitors to the Academy's Learning Resource Centre will be able to view and comment on the council's redevelopment plans, which will see dated facilities at the school replaced with world-class teaching and learning facilities.  Representatives from Croydon Council's Transforming Croydon Schools (TCS) programme, as well as award-winning architectural practice Sheppard Robson and building contractor Wilmott Dixon - the highest placed contractor in the Sunday Times Best Green Companies List - will be there to explain the proposals, respond to questions and listen to feedback. 

The Transforming Croydon Schools programme will see £350 million invested in education across the borough over the next decade.  Its aim is to transform the standard of education in the borough, and make every local school the natural choice for parents.

If approved, the £24 million redevelopment plans for Oasis Academy Coulsdon would deliver:

• State of the art new teaching and learning facilities to meet the evolving needs of twenty-first century students, as well as extensive refurbishment of buildings and amenities not earmarked for replacement
• Environmentally sustainable development, with proposals aiming to secure an 'Excellent' BREEAM rating
• At least 10% of the Academy's energy needs supplied by on-site renewable sources (e.g. solar panels) and with state-of-the-art building design and insulation to minimise energy loss
• A roof made of EFTE polymer - the same lightweight, recyclable and resilient material used for the Eden Project biomes in Cornwall and the National Space Centre in Leicester
• A new communal atrium at the heart of the Academy - protected by the EFTE roof overhead - which would be used for assemblies, presentations and exhibitions and which would be overlooked by balconies on all four sides of the Academy

Oasis Academy Coulsdon replaced Coulsdon High School in September 2008. In the year since the Academy opened, it has already made exceptional progress, with the number of students achieving the top A*/A grades at the school increasing by 50% in a single year; the rate at which student performance has improved from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 means that the Academy is now in the top 25% of schools in the country. 

Once the plans are finalised towards the end of this year, they will be subject to planning consent before works can begin.  If consent is granted, work could begin at the Academy next Spring, and be completed by summer 2011.

Councillor Tim Pollard, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learners, said:

"Educational standards have shown exceptional improvement since Oasis Academy Coulsdon opened. Redevelopment at the site will ensure that standards at the Academy will continue to improve, and that current and future students have the opportunity to fulfill their academic potential in an educational environment of the highest quality.

"The development proposals are at the cutting edge of school design and meet the highest standards of environmental sustainability - I am delighted that plans like these are being developed for Croydon's young people. I would like to reassure parents, students and local residents that, if approved, every effort will be made to ensure any disruption to the school and to local communities is minimized while works are being carried out."

The exhibition will be open on Wednesday 4 November and Thursday 5 November between 4pm and 7pm in the main hall at Oasis Academy Coulsdon.