Marlborough St Mary's breaks ground at new school site

Councillors, school staff and governors were all welcomed to the official groundbreaking ceremony for the amalgamated school Marlborough St Mary's on Friday (October 14) at the site near George Lane. Wiltshire MP Claire Perry was joined by head of the school Anne Schwodler as well as the team who have been involved in the building and planning of the building.

Starting with a speech by Andy Jones, contract manager for Kier, the company that is building the school site, everyone was welcomed to the ceremony.

Mr Jones said: "Thank you for all coming, this has been something long in the making and now we are at the stage where we can do this groundbreaking. It has been a long journey but now we are here."

After a prayer of thanksgiving from Rev Canon Andrew Studdert-Kennedy, Miss Perry stood before the crowd to thank everyone for their hard work.

Miss Perry said: "They say that fortune favours the brave, but I think it is tenacity that favours the brave. Everyone has been so tenacious and worked very hard to get to this stage. The project has gone through changes of style and various battles before Wiltshire Council accepted the plans. We can now see it all happening and it is very exciting.

"It is really exciting and I should be thankful to everyone who has worked so hard to get where we are today."

Pupils from St Mary's, along with head Mrs Schwodler and a small group of representatives from Kier then walked up onto the site to dig the shovels in, signifying the start of a new opportunity for the children of Marlborough.

Mrs Schwodler said; "It is amazing, we have all worked very hard and it has taken a while, but here we are. There is so much space for the school and for the people of Marlborough, we will be opening the school next year so until then we will be working to ensure a smooth transition."

The construction of the new school is expected to be completed by July of next year.