Work starts on academy expansion in Sunderland

Following a turf-cutting ceremony, BAM Construction has started work on a brand-new school building at Sunderland’s Farringdon Community Academy.

The £35M project will include state-of-the-art classrooms, including those specialised for more vocational qualifications such as engineering, and design and technology.

The ground floor will incorporate an open-plan design with a large library facility, main hall and dining area. There will also be a new swimming pool and a specialist learning area adapted for vulnerable children and those with special educational needs and disabilities.

Farringdon Community Academy Acting Principal, Jordan Bedford said: “I’m really excited to be here at this celebration of the construction of our new school. We are working out of a 1960s building at the moment. It has served its purpose, but there is a time that comes when everyone needs a new build.

“The new building is going to have state-of-the-art technology and we will no longer have to be working on a split site. We are over the moon that we will be able to open this new building for pupils by September 2024.”

Sunderland’s Mayor, Councillor Dorothy Trueman, said: “It’s very important to have new schools for pupils. As a child, I attended a school which was past its sell-by date and it doesn’t inspire people or give them that ambition and aspiration.”