Beard help celebrate opening of new school

Construction company Beard have joined pupils, parents and teachers in celebrating the official opening of a new school near Purton.

The £3.2 million, 210-place Ridgeway Farm Church of England Academy – which was built by Beard – was opened by the Bishop of Bristol, the Right Reverend Mike Hill.

Ridgeway Farm CE Academy is situated in the centre of Taylor Wimpey’s new 700-home Ridgeway Farm housing development on the edge of Purton village.

It is the latest academy to be opened by the Diocese of Bristol Academies Trust which currently owns and runs nine primary school academies across Swindon, Bristol and North Wiltshire.

Beard organised the burial of a time capsule – containing class photos, hand and footprints of the reception children, written and electronic accounts of life as a child in Ridgeway, and photographs of the site before and after construction – to commemorate the opening.

“Time capsules are a great way of recording historical items that have special meanings to the sites where they are hidden, and a wonderful way to put history into context by linking current and future generations,” said Marc Bayley, Beard Swindon director.

“We hope that pupils and their teachers have had fun putting it together. We have really enjoyed working with the Trust and Taylor Wimpey on this much-needed new primary school for the Purton community and we wish Ridgeway Farm Academy a very happy and successful future.”