First-class sites pledge for renewing 2 schools

BUILDER NAMED FOR TWO-YEAR PROJECT AFTER DEMOLITIONS

- By EVA MILLETT

Artist's impressions of the new-look Mercia Academy and, inset, Newhall Junior School

A CONSTRUCTION group has been appointed by the Department for Education to redevelop Mercia Academy and Newhall Junior School in Swadlincote.

Kier will deliver the two-year project, which will see both existing schools demolished and replaced with a modern education campus on adjacent sites in South Derbyshire.

Once complete, the new schools will continue to be run by the Lionheart Educational Trust and aim to provide high-quality, sustainable learning environments with facilities for more than 800 students.