Following confirmation that Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd will build King James I Academy as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) we have met with representatives of the company, 'Space Group', who will be the designers of our new school and the Education Funding Agency (EFA).

Thanks to our staff and students we have been able to provide the EFA with a great deal of information regarding our ethos and ambitions for the future, the curriculum we intend to deliver at our new school and our ideas for the new spaces and how we would like them to be used. We will now move towards negotiating key elements of the requirements.

At the meeting it became clear that, following the commencement of works on the "sample school" (Ian Ramsey, Stockton on Tees), King James will be the next school to be started. This is an exciting prospect, especially as it was further highlighted that all nine schools involved in the programme will be completed, including landscaping, by March 2015.

Beech Williamson, who will be our Design Advisor, has already visited us to further discuss our plans, and a series of "Design Engagement" meetings have been arranged with key stakeholders and Carol Cuthbertson, who will be responsible for Design Management.

We anticipate that the formal consultation process will begin fairly quickly and that it will include an event at King James for all site users including staff, students, parents and members of our community. The event will offer an opportunity for us all to help shape the final design of our Academy.

It is clear that the "rebirth' of King James is imminent. We can soon look forward to enjoying our new learning spaces and the opportunity to make our vision for the future a reality. We will keep you informed of futher updates in future issues of Vision and on our website.