Galliford Try is one of the leading contractors in the UK Education sector. During the last three years, Galliford Try has been involved with delivering 17 projects providing Special Schools, Additional Support Needs and Inclusive Learning Environments to the value of £265m.
Our projects stretch from Dorset in the South of England to North Ayrshire in Scotland, and we work with a range of stakeholders and clients, from the Department for Education and Local Authorities through to specialist Multi Academy Trusts such as the National Autistic Society Academies Trust.
Our projects cover a wide spectrum of needs from social, emotional and mental health needs, to moderate learning difficulties, and up to complex needs including respite and residential care. We understand the importance of creating tailored education facilities for children and young people with special and additional needs by recognising and celebrating each scheme’s individual objectives and sensitivities.
Special schools often require innovative solutions to respond to end-user needs and due to our experience in this field, Galliford Try has developed a real understanding of how to create accessible and inclusive education settings, across a challenging range of sites. We are proud to be involved in building and refurbishing facilities which support students so that they can reach their potential and go on to enjoy meaningful adult lives.
The variety of projects we have undertaken in the Special Educational Needs space over the past 36 months demonstrates the excellence of our offering. Through innovative solutions, and intensive collaboration we have created high-quality, thoughtful spaces that allow educators the facilities they require to help all students reach their potential.
Bloxham Grove Academy
Bloxham Grove Academy is a new 100 place special Free school, for students aged 7 to 18 with cognitive and learning needs, Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, and Autistic Spectrum Condition. The new school is run by the Gallery Trust and opened in January 2024.
Classrooms are designed within clusters that reflect restorative behaviour needs, these include calming spaces and simple signage and visuals to avoid overstimulation. The support spaces provided include therapeutic spaces, a sensory room and a life skills flat.
The landscaping also includes a sensory garden and allotment garden outside the food technology room and a dog walking area to allow students to engage in therapeutic sessions with dogs.
The GT team have been fantastic through the process. I feel the whole Bloxham Grove project (GT, DfT, TA and Trust) have really worked as one team flexing as needed for our various organisational needs ensuring variations and responses to issues run smoothly.
Department for Education Project Director
Lockhart Campus
Project of the Year Inclusive Design – Learning Places Scotland 2023
Lockhart Campus houses an Additional Support Needs school and a respite facility for children and young people across North Ayrshire.
The campus provides a unique learning and living environment and fully accessible and inclusive facilities for 200 children and young people from the early stages to the senior phase with a wide range of needs. The building includes sensory spaces, a swimming pool, a hydrotherapy pool and enhanced outdoor learning spaces.
Respite buildings are integrated to keep families connected, provide respite facilities for young persons with additional support and health needs, and residential facilities to meet severe and complex needs.
"We are absolutely delighted. We always had a vision for the school to be warm, inviting and somewhere the young people would feel safe, secure and nurtured. We wanted it to be an environment which would help them get the very best out of themselves"
Councillor John Bell, North Ayrshire Council
Vanguard School
Vanguard School helps meet the demand for special needs educational facilities within the London Borough of Lambeth. All pupils have a diagnosis of autism but may also have additional needs, such as obsessive compulsive disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Robustness and security were the main principles underpinning all aspects of the design, from small-scale details such as component specification with tamper proof considerations through to the larger site-wide construction strategies using impact resistant materials.
"It's wonderful to see the school open and the students doing so well. It's a fantastic site, designed and built by Pozzoni and Galliford Try specifically for our students. It will allow us to give generations of autistic children and young people a far better start in life"
Matthew Tiplin, Managing Director, Education and Children's Services, National Autistic Society
