GENERAL NEWS NEWS...
First phase of Rotherham-based SEND school’s £3m transformation is complete
Henry Boot Construction has completed the first phase of a major £3 million pro bono Yorkshire Children’s Charity and Nexus Multi Academy Trust project to transform Hilltop School in Rotherham – a special educational needs school supporting 180 children with complex needs. The first phase was officially unveiled at a celebratory event and site tour, attended by representatives from Henry Boot Construction and its supply chain partners, Yorkshire Children’s Charity, and the Nexus Multi Academy Trust.
The milestone marked the completion of extensive internal reconfigurations, including demolition, the installation of new partition walls, and re-opening up space by removing an independent steel frame structure over the internal courtyard.
All delivered within a 15-week programme, this has created four new classrooms, with associated WC and kitchenette facilities, and staff spaces, providing modern, accessible learning environments that will significantly enhance the experience for pupils.
Delivered in partnership with Yorkshire Children’s Charity through its Great Yorkshire Build initiative, the scheme is replacing temporary, cramped buildings with modern, purpose-built facilities designed to meet pupils’ complex learning and accessibility needs. More than 50 Yorkshire- based construction firms have collaborated on the project. Works on the transformation started in July 2025, with further phases set to include new-build classrooms and a rebound centre – an area designed to host therapeutic spaces.
Henry Boot Construction delivered all main contractor duties free of charge, including preliminaries and site management, while its supply chain provided time, labour, and materials at discounted rates, reducing
costs to the charity to a fraction of typical market rates – saving over £650,000.
Founder and chief executive of Yorkshire Children’s Charity, Charlotte Farrington, comments: “Hilltop School has been our biggest and most ambitious Great Yorkshire Build to date, and the way the Yorkshire property industry has rallied behind this project is nothing short of phenomenal. The children at Hilltop finally have the supportive, nurturing environment they deserve, and their teachers now have the tools and spaces they need to do their job.”
Yorkshire Children’s Charity’s Great Yorkshire Build initiative is focused on transforming the outdated and inadequate buildings often found in SLD (Severe Learning Difficulty), SILC (Specialist Inclusive Learning Centres) and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) schools across the region.
Hilltop School is part of the Nexus Multi Academy Trust and supports children and young people aged 2–19 with severe and complex learning difficulties. The school was previously featured in the BBC’s SEND Help documentary in 2023, which highlighted the crisis facing the sector and the urgent need for better facilities.
Atlas Education up for national awards with Bath and Glamorgan schools
Atlas Education has been shortlisted for two Cleaning Excellence Awards in its first full- year of operations. The winners are due to be announced by comedian Geoff Norcott at the ceremony in Coventry this month. The business has grown rapidly this year, building on the success of various teams that Atlas integrated under the leadership of new Managing Director, Donna Constance. Atlas Education is finalist for the Client Collaboration Award with Royal High Bath; and the Going Above and Beyond Expectations Award with Ysgol Y Deri school. Managing Director of Atlas Education, Donna Constance, commented: “I am delighted that Atlas Education has made the final shortlist in two important categories of Client Collaboration and Going Above and
Beyond Expectations. Huge praise goes to all our fantastic operatives and managers who have made this possible. Every day they work hard to ensure that schools are supported in the best possible ways
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- and all of them very much deserve this recognition.”
Royal High Bath is part of the Girls’ Day School Trust. Founded in 1865, it is an independent day and boarding school for girls aged 3-18 years and is located in the city of Bath, South West England. Royal High Bath has a storied history, as Florence Nightingale was instrumental in the foundation of the original school and Queen Victoria made a personal donation to help establish it. Ysgol Y Deri, in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, is the UK’s largest Special Educational Needs (SEN) school. It caters for students aged 3-19 years with a range of learning and physical needs and autism. The school is featured in the BBC’s television programme ‘A Special School’, a programme that has won
one Royal Television Society Cymru prize and has been nominated for two BAFTA Cymru Awards. The BBC calls Ysgol y Deri “an extraordinary school for extraordinary people”.
December 2025
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