News-Schoolchildren show off new £40m campus to council leaders

Children at Belmont Community School and Belmont Church of England Primary School welcomed our Cabinet members for the official opening of their modern new shared campus - which has been funded by us.

Children from both schools were joined by our Leader Cllr Amanda Hopgood and Cabinet member for children and young people's services, Cllr Ted Henderson, for the unveiling of their new facilities.

In all, the new builds will cater for more than 1,200 children and young people and represent County Durham's first low carbon school sites, with each equipped with photovoltaic solar panels and air-source heat pumps.

The Belmont project is expected to be worth more than £8m in 'social value' to County Durham, through a range of activity including more than a thousand hours supporting young people into work and organising career sessions, as well as hundreds of apprenticeship weeks.

Cllr Hopgood said: "Educating our children and giving them the best possible grounding for their future is of utmost importance to us.

"That is why, despite being in challenging times, we have invested £40m in these top-class facilities at Belmont that will aid the learning of more than 1,200 primary and secondary age children now and many more into the future.  

"These new facilities at Belmont follow significant investment we have made in school buildings across County Durham in recent years - most recently at Springmoor Grange at Spennymoor. We will continue to support the teaching of our young people in this way wherever we can.

"We're also delighted that Belmont boasts our first low carbon schools which is really important as we continue to do everything we can to try and reduce emissions across County Durham.

"What's more, we're really pleased that this project is worth more than £8m in social value to our county, through a range of activity including apprenticeships, career sessions and supporting young people into work."

Catering for children now and in the future

The new Belmont Community School has capacity for 900 pupils, while the primary school can accommodate up to 315 pupils plus early years provision - in a single site for the first time.

The new Belmont Sports Centre which adjoins the community school site includes cricket facilities co-funded by the England and Wales Cricket Board. New nets will be used not just by schoolchildren but also by Durham County Cricket Club for its 11 to 15 youth development programmes.

The campus, constructed by our contractor Kier, also boasts a fitness gym and dance studio and performance facilities including music rooms, hi-tech drama studio and theatre hall, co-funded by The Wolfson Foundation.

Outdoor multi-use games areas, co-funded by The Football Foundation, that the local community will also be able to use, including a 3G pitch, will follow. So too will an outdoor learning space and Forest School area.

Paul Marsden, headteacher at Belmont Community School, said: "We are delighted that Durham County Council has invested in educational provision for the children of Belmont.

"The campus meets the growing need for school spaces in the area, following the building of new houses and we believe this whole project is a shining example of the power of collaboration.

"The new facilities allow us to maintain and build on our traditional academic success and long history in the performing arts, while also providing amazing sporting facilities.

"We are also proud to be one of the first low carbon school buildings and the first in County Durham. More than 50,000 tonnes of carbon have been saved by reusing old school furniture and most energy for the campus is generated onsite."

Looking to the future

Kirsty Harrison-Brown, headteacher of Belmont Church of England Primary School, said: "The new campus has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to bring together our nursery and primary children in one state-of-the-art building. This will have a transformational impact on the lives of our young people and the community. We are very much looking forward to the future and to the wonderful prospects this will provide for our Belmont family and community."

Social value is the value an organisation contributes to society beyond its 'business as usual.' It is quantified in terms of benefit to the economy, the community and the environment in monetary terms.

Our procurement of Kier to build the new schools has delivered social value of more than £8m for County Durham, through a range of activity including:

• 167 hours of careers sessions delivered in schools.
• 337 apprenticeship weeks.
• 1,182 hours dedicated to support young people into work.