Construction begins on new school buildings

Earlier this week, representatives from Venturers Trust were delighted to attend the official turf-cutting ceremony to mark the first phase of construction of the new school buildings for Venturers’ Academy and Merchants’ Academy Primary. They were joined by a strong contingent from the school community, including the Principals of Venturers’ Academy, Merchants’ Academy Secondary and Primary, as well as students and parents, along with Governors and Trustees and representatives from the Trust’s sponsors – the Society of Merchant Venturers and the University of Bristol.

L-R: Stuart Woodburn, Principal of Merchants’ Academy Primary; Tony Kenny, Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers (SMV); Ross Ancell, Senior Warden of SMV; Caroline Duckworth, Treasurer of SMV and member of Venturers Trust board; Trystan Williams, Principal of Venturers’ Academy and Executive Lead for Venturers Trust; Sam Williamson, Principal of Merchants’ Academy.

Also in attendance were members of Galliford Try’s South West team, who will be leading the construction of this £12.5m project.

Trystan Williams, Principal of Venturers’ Academy and Executive Lead for Venturers Trust, said: “We’re excited that this transformational project is now underway and the children are looking forward to watching their new school take shape. This will be a state-of-the-art building for the students of Merchants’ Academy Primary and Venturers’ Academy, with superb facilities including a library, a training centre and a communal hall, as well as a sports area and forest school to support outdoor learning.

“We will also have specialist facilities to fully meet the needs of children with Autism and being co-located with the secondary school will provide our students with access to the fantastic science labs and drama studio. We also look forward to being able to serve a greater number of families from the Withywood community and beyond.”

Mark Wusthoff, Area Director for Galliford Try South West, said: “We are delighted to be able to get underway with this exciting project to provide a much-needed new building for two schools within Venturers Trust. Galliford Try has a proud track record of building innovative new schools and enhancing their related communities both in the South West and across the country and we look forward to providing the high-quality facility that the students deserve.”