LYDE Green’s long-awaited new secondary and primary schools are starting to rise from their foundations – and preparations are also going on away from the building site.
The wooden walls of the ‘Passivhaus’ energy efficient buildings can now be seen above the hoardings surrounding the site at the eastern end of Honeysuckle Road, with two cranes towering above them. The first sections of wall to go up will eventually form part of the 420-place primary school to be run by Castle School Education Trust.
Groundwork started back in the spring but it has taken several months for the site to be ready for the timber frame structure, which is being built in Austria and shipped to the UK, to be erected.
The Olympus Academy Trust, which will run the 900-place Lyde Green Community School, says the work is “progressing well”, with the current phase of construction due to be completed next spring.
The school’s head teacher designate, Tom Hill, said: “The journey to this point has been long and has involved collaborative work between the Olympus Academy Trust, South Gloucestershire Council, and BAM. We are pleased that we are making progress and creating a school the community can be proud of.”
Mr Hill has been working on “envisioning the school’s future”, spending time with the head teachers of local primary schools, members of the local community and colleagues within the trust, as well as visiting some of the “highest-performing schools in the county” as he plans for the opening in September 2026.
The first opportunity people have to help shape the school’s future is a survey on the kind of uniform it should have, which can be accessed online at tinyurl.com/3ryuauew and is open until December 16. A community update published in November can be found at tinyurl.com/3bw7nvz8.
The school has a website at www.lydegreencs.org.uk, which includes provisional dates for open evenings, and a Facebook page.
The schools were originally due to open in September 2022 but have been hit by a series of delays.
South Gloucestershire Council cabinet member for schools Ian Boulton said: “There is real progress being made to the building of the new Lyde Green schools.
“We are pleased that the project is currently on track so that students will be able to move in at the start of the Autumn 2026 term.”