Ebbsfleet Green Primary School construction back on track
Maritime Academy Trust is delighted to announce the commencement of construction on Ebbsfleet Green Primary School, in Ebbsfleet Green Garden City, Kent. The long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony – which marks the start of Kier Construction’s site preparations for the installation of the new prefabricated modular school building in January 2021 – was attended by Executive Headteacher Joanne Wilkinson-Tabi, Head of School Kelly Garrett, Estates Lead Ricky Bangs, Kier Assistant Site Manager Kamley Robinson and KCC Project Manager Joanna Johnson. Once in place the building will be fitted out and additional ground works and landscaping to the outdoor learning areas completed by August 2021 ready for the start of the new school year in September 2021.
This stunning new sustainable building commissioned by Kier and designed by gdm architects, is environmentally-friendly, with classrooms positioned around a large central courtyard to foster ‘collaboration, innovation and education’, the ethos of Maritime Academy Trust. The classrooms will look out onto beautifully landscaped grounds with a wildlife dipping pond. A wilding area and vegetable garden will be created with the students when the school opens, promoting the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation’s vision of an ‘Edible Ebbsfleet’.
Situated in the heart of Ebbsfleet Garden City, the new school will be one of three primary schools serving the new development. Ebbsfleet Green Primary School will provide 420 places and will include a 26-place nursery and SEN centre helping to meet the needs of local children and the increasing demand for school places in Dartford and Gravesham, whose population is predicted to rise to 252,000 by 2031.
The school is part of the Maritime Academy Trust, an educational charity catering for over 4,000 pupils aged 3-11 across thirteen primary schools with nurseries based in London and Kent. The Trust is headed up by Nick Osborne, CEO and National Leader in Education – a title earned for his ‘exceptional’ leadership as Executive Head Teacher of Millennium, Brooklands and Timbercroft Primary Schools, a position he held prior to founding Maritime.
Commenting on the groundbreaking ceremony Joanne Wilkinson-Tabi, Executive Headteacher , Ebbsfleet Green Primary said, “I was really excited to visit the Ebbsfleet Green Primary School site with Head of School, Kelly Garrett. Kelly and I were shown the plans of exactly where the school will sit and could imagine what it will be like this time next year. It is a vast expanse of land which is unusual for a new school and will provide us with plenty of space to make Ebbsfleet Green Primary a first-class Garden City school. It is also great to see the housing development continue to grow around us. We are very much looking forward to our launch party in January 2021 when the school building will be in position. It is all beginning to feel very real!”
