Roseland Community College is celebrating after receiving extra funding to help with the ongoing renovation of the school buildings.

They are to receive a total of £325,000 from the Education Funding Agency (EFA) after two successful bids for the replacement of the exterior façade of curtain window walling to the humanities block and replacement of the remainder of flat roofing to the main building.

The Roseland’s Director of Finance and Business Jackie Parker said: “We are particularly pleased as this is the third year in a row we have been successful with our bids.

“We really didn’t think we would be successful for a third consecutive year as the EFA guidance emphasises that in awarding bids they must take into account historical funding when considering the prioritisation of projects pointing out that Academies which have received funding previously are unlikely to be chosen unless a strong case for investment has been presented.”

Over the past few years The Roseland has obtained grants totalling more than £1.6 million.

This money has helped the college to replace part of its flat roofing, replace the original steel framed windows and structural walling in the main school building with new thermally efficient double glazed aluminum windows.

Grants from a variety of sources have also helped the college to build a new dining hall, convert the 1960s disused gym into a state of the art drama and dance studio, transform a former classroom into an ICT suite and build an eco-learning space at its own farm which now attracts students from neighbouring secondary schools who come to The Roseland to study land based operations courses.

Mrs Parker added: “In the notification letter the EFA highlighted that they had received bids for 3,300 projects totalling over £1,400 million, which was far in excess of the £394 million available for allocation, stating that, ‘the standard of bids has risen considerably in this latest round, making this a challenging decision as we have been unable to support many good quality projects’.

“So, in all, we have done really very well indeed. I will now start the process of tendering for the projects with the aim that work can start before or during the summer holidays.”