5 January 2022 – First Phase of St Mark’s C of E School now handed over

Just before Christmas, an important milestone was reached at St Mark’s C of E Primary school with Morgan Sindall Construction handing over the primary wing of the new school. This meant the children could kick-start 2022 in their brand new facilities!

The primary wing is the first phase of the wider St Mark’s C of E School project to be handed over. Once fully complete, the project will be Southampton’s first all-through school and will provide the local area with 900 much-needed school places to pupils aged four to 16.

The new primary wing facilities includes 14 classrooms, group teaching space, staff rooms/offices, a school hall and a temporary school reception. Outside facilities include an external playground with soft landscaping and a staff car park.

The new school is being built at the site of St Mark’s Church of England Primary School and the nearby ex-civil service playing fields in Freemantle.  The design will provide separate wings for primary and secondary teaching spaces, although these will be linked to enable the whole school to operate as one. The new buildings designed by ArchitecturePLB will also house the six form entry secondary school.  An additional new sports building will also be located centrally within the site, serving all age groups. 

Ubu will be providing landscape design for the project.

The city council promised to create 1,500 new secondary places in the central region of the city by 2023 to meet known demand into the 2020s.  The all-through school will provide 24 pre-school nursery places, 420 primary spaces and 900 secondary places.