Kier picked for £12.5m Sunningdale SEN School

Sunderland City Council has appointed Kier to build a new school for children with severe learning difficulties and disabilities.The 4,000 sqm new-build school will provide new premises for Sunningdale Primary School, whose current site has reached the end of its design life.As a school for pupils with special education needs (SEN), facilities will include rebound therapy, a hydrotherapy pool, sensory facilities, soft play and in each classroom a storage area for mobility equipment. Informal play and grass playing fields will also be provided across the wider site, alongside a wetlands area, nature trail and habitat area.Construction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022.The project has been procured through the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) framework.Kier has worked on numerous SEN projects across the country, it says, and recently handed over Forest Bridge School in Maidenhead, which has 96 pupils aged between 4-16 with a primary diagnosis of autism. Dan Doherty, regional director at Kier Regional Building North & Scotland, said: “We will use our range of experience in delivering first-class education projects to build a high-class facility for Sunderland.”