A new building for St John's School in Gravesend

15 September 2010

A new £25 million building for St John's Catholic Comprehensive School in Gravesend has been officially opened by the Archbishop of Southwark Peter Smith.

He was joined by Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education Sarah Hohler, Mayor of Gravesham Councillor Bill Lambert and five times Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave.

The ceremony was conducted in front of more than a thousand students and staff.

The stunning school has been designed to help transform the way students learn. A key part to the design is open plan rooms and a new ethos where students take more responsibility for their own learning. The iconic building features a Cathedral-like "heart" space and first floor art loft with floor to ceiling windows.

Please watch our video showing the old and the new school buildings. (Running time 4:08 mins). If you have difficulty viewing this video, please visit the video help page.

Headteacher John Stanley said:

"It is the first time in history where we have been able to bring the whole community of St John's together under one roof. Our new school is not what most people expect. When they walk through the doors they expect to see long corridors. We have chosen to do something different with this building. At St John's we have put imagination and creativity onto the curriculum." 

The original school building dated back to the 1950s and is being demolished. Any equipment not used in the new building was packed into 40 foot containers and shipped to Tanzania. This was part of the schools ongoing project to help raise standards at three impoverished schools in the country.

Archbishop Peter Smith said:

“This novel and exciting building provides excellent facilities for the pupils and staff and bodes well for the future of Catholic education in Gravesend. It has been achieved through excellent co-operation between the school, Kent County Council and the Government and I congratulate all those involved on their magnificent achievement.”

Sarah Hohler said:

"This is a wonderful new building. This is also a celebration of the first new secondary school to officially open under the Building Schools for the Future programme. I hope young people will enjoy and respect the new building for many years to come. With the facilities here anything is possible."

Sir Steve gave an emotionally charged speech about his life and showed an inspiring film about the journey that led to his Olympic triumph. He said:

"I am always delighted to spend time with young people in the UK as they very much represent our future. The enthusiasm and excitement I have seen today at St John's is typical of the atmosphere we are attempting to foster as part of our Olympic Legacy Programme and working with Gleeds, who advise on the business case, technical and delivery aspects of these schools, has given me a privileged insight into the superb new facilities that are available to be enjoyed."

St John's is one of 11 schools to receive investment as part of the previous Government's Building Schools for the Future programme. In Kent, the wave 3 programme is being delivered through the Local Education Partnership. The partnership was established in October 2008 and is a joint venture between Kent County Council, Kier, Northgate Managed Services and Building Schools for the Future Investments.