Developing schools
A foundation for education in the best of both worlds
Natalie Corcoran describes the creation of an outstanding campus The Warwick Independent Schools Foundation comprises two schools: King’s High with Warwick Preparatory School, and Warwick School. The Foundation is heralding a new era for the future of the schools, and, in particular, King’s High School, by relocating from the central Warwick location it has had since 1879. In Autumn 2016, the Foundation announced the vision for Project One Campus and embarked on a £41 million building project, the single largest capital investment that it has ever made in new facilities, with the ultimate aim of creating one outstanding campus for its schools. At a time when the sector is under pressure as a result of central government policy, thriving schools must continue to invest sensibly to remain competitive. This major investment will not only strengthen the schools individually but provide a wealth of benefits to its pupils of all ages. King’s High’s move to the Myton Road campus is somewhat inevitable, albeit after 140 years in the making! Its current town centre location in Warwick was once the site of the other two schools in the Foundation’s long history. The process began in 1879 when Warwick School relocated to the open fields site south of the River Avon where it now resides, alongside Warwick Junior School. Warwick Preparatory School later made the same transition in 1971, and, from September 2019, King’s High will be the final piece in completing the jigsaw. Whilst the facilities at King’s High’s current location are first class, there are limitations to future development purely because of the nature of the site. The new buildings on the Myton Road campus will provide a stunning new home for the girls, housing large communal areas, specialist classrooms, pastoral bases and administration functions. As well as the main school building, the new school will also include a
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Spring 2019
Sports, Art and Technology ‘wrap-around’, built onto the existing Bridge Sports Centre. The girls will also benefit from a new purpose-built high-tech shared Music School, which will include a range of practice rooms, performance spaces and a music technology suite, shared with the youngest pupils in the Foundation, Warwick Prep. The project also includes the provision of a shared Sixth Form Centre for King’s High and Warwick School. The building of the Centre has recently been completed, but final fit-out will not be until next summer in line with the girls’ move down to the campus. The Centre’s light and airy design has been developed to accommodate over 400 pupils and will better prepare them for life beyond school. There will be space for quiet study, group work, social interaction and careers advice for both boys and girls in a truly shared facility. The commitment remains to deliver single sex education in the classroom, where girls and boys will be able to develop and enjoy a broad range of opportunities without constraint from gender stereotypes, alongside the social benefits of a co-educational environment. Play and sport are a critical part of the learning process, vital to each and every pupil’s educational experience. The Myton Road campus already boasts a wide range of sports facilities designed to enrich pupils’ lives and, through Project One Campus, these will be further enhanced by a suite of new netball and tennis courts for King’s High and a 3G rugby pitch for Warwick School. With summer and winter weather becoming even more unpredictable, the new 3G pitch will offer a state of the art, year round surface reducing wear and tear on grass pitches irrespective of meteorological extremes. There will be a new play space for Warwick Prep, which will provide a safe and stimulating place for a child’s imagination to flourish. The final elements of the project will include landscaping across
