Castle View School - The New View

School Council review the design of the new school - Mid March

The school council spent an interesting afternoon on the 11 March looking at the SKANSKA design plans for the new school.Moving around each design plan they made their observations on the designs. It would be fair to say that the pupil comments were wide and far ranging .They were very impressed by the whole plans but certainly are looking forward in the next few weeks to meeting with representatives from SKANSKA to get some answers to their questions.

Pupils were very impressed by the green credentials of the new school and the many open spaces for learning. However they are keen to know more about the high tech specifications and how we will emcompass hi tech learning throughout the curriculum

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Plans of the New School - Early March 2010

More detailed plans of the new school and its surroundings. You will need to have Adobe Reader to view these plans. The file is quite large and may take a few minutes to load, but you can zoom into the pictures using the Adobe Reader scale function in the toolbar, so you can see more detail.

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New School Public Meeting at Furtherwick Park School - Late February 2010

Essex County Council and Skanska RM will present details of the new Castle View School design at a public meeting to be held between 4.00 and 8.00pm in the main hall at Furtherwick Park School on Thursday 25 February. The new design is intended to position the school in the heart of the community

Information Powerpoint for the New School layout - Mid February 2010

View the Powerpoint

Virtual Walk Through the planned school - Mid February 2010

Virtual tour around the school

Skanska RM preferred bidder for the new school - February 2010

On Monday 1 February, Essex County Council announced that Skanska RM had been selected as the Preferred Bidder for the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Councillor Stephen Castle, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education said: “We are delighted to be working with Skanska RM on this exciting project. BSF will bring substantial investment to Essex, enabling us to build world class facilities which will transform education and the way it is delivered.”

Councillor Derrick Louis, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Central Services said: “Skanska RM have successfully demonstrated that they can meet the very high standards that we have set for our preferred bidder. Under the partnership we will create state of the art facilities which will inspire generations of learners to come.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, the Government organisation responsible for delivering the national BSF programme said: “I am pleased that Essex County Council has appointed a selected bidder for its BSF project. This is an important milestone and means that the council can progress with its plans to design and refurbish the area’s schools which will benefit the lives of not only school pupils but local communities as a whole. With 146 schools and over 125,000 pupils benefiting from BSF investment across the country, I look forward to similar work taking place in Essex to offer pupils the best start in life.”

Star Shine Brightly at the Mini-Olympics - January 2010

A fabulous sporting occasion took place on Canvey on Monday 25 January. Castle View and Furtherwick Park School pupils and staff joined forces to enjoy a day of Mini-Olympic events as part fo the Year 9 pupils integrating from September onwards.

The pupils from both schools were placed in one of 8 mixed teams, each team representing a Country. In the morning pupils enjoyed a varied programme of sporting events.

Former Olympic gold medal athlete, Darren Campbell (MBE) visited to offer his support. His motivating speech ended with the closing remark “Be the best you can be and never given up on the dream” was well-received.

In the afternoon, fellow British athlete, Christian Malcolm joined the Mini-Olympics. At the presentation, Christian presented certificates to every competitor and medals to the first three teams. The final standings were:

Position	Country	Points
1st	Russia	94
2nd	USA	76
3rd	South Korea	75
4th	Australia	66
5th	China	64
6th	Germany	61
7th	Great Britain	52
8th	Japan	51

A special thanks must be given to Mr Thorne (Castle View) and Miss Chandler (Furtherwick Park) for their total dedication and outstanding planning that meant every Year 9 pupil involved could be considered a winner. We look forward to further opportunities for pupils to work together over the coming months,

J G Newby
Acting Headteacher
Castle View School

The plans for the Town Centre site - October 2009

Click on the link below to see the outline drawings of how the town-centre site will be developed. The drawing shows the area where the new construction will take place and where the Year 7 pupils will be accomodated in September 2010.

Outline Drawing

A new school year, full of decisions - September 2009

As we start the new school year, the bidding process is coming to an end, and in the New Year, the successful organistation will be announced. Once the successful bidder has been declared we shall be in a position to publish much more detailed information, including plans, artists impressions, etc.. A new school year and a brand new school opening in 2012. Exciting times lie ahead at Castle View School.

Pupils meet with the Bidders at Lake View Hall - End of March 2009

Pupils from Castle View, Cornelius Vermuyden and Furtherwick Park met with the bidding teams on Wednesday 25th March. Year 7 pupil Lucy Myers and Year 8 pupil Laurence Thorne represented Castle View.

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Pictures of the pupils attending the meeting

Bidder Day Visits to Castle View - Late March 2009

The procurement process (as it is known) is well underway. There are two bidder teams and each company is in close dialogue with the school. Some school staff, parents and pupils will receive some training on how to challenge each team of bidders in order to get the best from this dialogue. On Friday 20 March, both companies met separately with senior staff for the first time in order to hear more details about Castle View’s aspirations. Our pupils, staff and parents deserve the best and this means a carefully designed brand new building that provides a 21st Century learning experience for all learners. Clearly we are committed to our Extended School provision and need to ensure a range of learning takes place throughout the day and after-school.

We will look closely at some of the following points:

Ø How ICT can help transform the learning of all pupils.

Ø How our curriculum can help provide pupils with more tailor-made learning.

Ø How the learning environment can be comfortable and stimulating all year round.

Ø Personalising the curriculum to give even more choices to pupils.

Ø The New View design must be environmentally sensitive and encourage pupils to learn about sustainability issues.

Year 8's visit to a new build school - Mid March 2009

On Wednesday 18 March, a group of 13 pupils from the Year 8 leadership team were invited by Year Leader, Mrs Stevens, and Deputy-headteacher, Mr Newby, to visit The Gateway Academy in Thurrock.

The visit was very uplifting and enlightening, showing what was possible with a new build. The use of glass and corridor space created a light and airy feel as we toured the building which was designed in the shape of a large capital G.

We held a very useful discussion with Gateway School Council representatives and the Headteacher before the tour.

‘Get the outdoor social spaces right – it makes a difference to the relationships between staff and pupils’ responded the Headteacher, Mr. Sadler when asked ‘What one thing would you recommend that you must get right (when planning a new school)?’ by Sean Quartermaine. All the Castle View party really enjoyed the chance to take photographs and talk with Gateway pupils and staff. Pupils were amazed at what they saw and heard. The experience has clearly given them some ideas to think about and take further over the coming months.

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Latest Developments - Late February 2009

Plans for our move to the new school are progressing well. This week, the headteachers of Castle View and Cornelius Vermuyden, together with representatives from Essex County Council, met with the the two companies that are bidding to build the new schools.

The process will result, at the end of 2009 in one of the two companies being declared the preferred bidder and taking the plans forward to their final stage.

Prospective Bidders visit Castle View School - Mid January 2009

On 15 January 2009, representatives from companies who are bidding for the contract for the new build visited Castle View School. They attended a presentaion given by the headteacher, Russell Sullivan, the deputy-headteacher, Jonathan Newby, assistant headteacher, David Ford and by students Laura McDonnall and Alfie Stewart. They then had a brief tour to gain a greater understanding of the school's ethos. Russell Sullivan stressed the high importance of the staff and pupil wishes to carry forward the character of the current school into the new accommodation.

Governors and ‘The New View’ ( BSF Project) - Late November 2008

Castle View is on the move, and in 2011 we will transfer to brand new accomodationl on the site of Furtherwick Park School in the town centre. However, as 2008 draws to a close I thought it would be good to let you know how we, as governors, are involved in the planning and development of our new school.

Governors, the headteacher and all staff are working in partnership with Essex County Council to develop and deliver a new school that our pupils, staff and the wider Canvey community will be proud of, designed to our specification. I and other governors have attended various meeting and events. On 19th November I attended a ‘Bidders Day’ at Stockbrook Manor, Billericay.

This was our school's opportunity to set up a stall for potential bidders who may build the school, to meet us and ask any questions. Two pupils attended the day as well as the headteacher, other staff and the Chair of Governors. After the event we were all praised by the bidders and Essex County Council for the quality of our presentation.

Other governors are involved in working up the plans because of their experience and expertise, and some are involved in three hour training sessions every month along with a staff stakeholder group, delivered by an external consultancy.

At our termly full governors meeting, the headteacher, Chair of Governors and any governor who has attended any event connected with the project, feedback to the meeting, allowing time for discussion and any questions that may be raised.

Whatever an individual governor's involvement is, however, we are all working together as a team along with the headteacher, staff and current pupils to ensure that we deliver a school that continues and enhances our motto, ‘the best that I can be’.

A New View for the future!

Ian Locke. Partnership Governor

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Late October 2008

A film crew arrives at Castle View School to make a video that captures the essence of the school. The video is intended to be seen by companies wishing to be part of the bidding process for the contract to build and equip the new school, so that they can make their submissions reflect the school identity.

Click to view the video

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Where the new school will be built

Aerial pictures of the Furtherwick Park site where the new Castle View School will be built.

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Picture of the current Furtherwick Park site

ol to move from its current site to the Canvey town centre, into a new 21st century building that will be built on the site of the current Furtherwick Park School.

The process of the move has just started, and on these pages we will publish news items relating to the move, which has ben titled "The New View"