New Grays school plans to make 900 places take step forward

The Thames Park Secondary School is to be built on land adjacent to Palmer’s College in Chadwell Road, Grays, and is expected to create 900 new school places for children aged between 11 and 16.

The plans took a major step forward when the Department of Education announced it had chosen development company Bowmer and Kirkland to oversee the construction.

Over the next few months the company will put together a detailed planning application to submit to the council and if it is approved the school could be finished by 2022.

In the meantime, the Osborne Co-operative Academy Trust will open a temporary school in the centre of Grays for students who will eventually study at Thames Park.

Kam Bains, headteacher of Thames Park Secondary School, said: “We are welcoming our founding Year 7 students in September, as they start their exciting educational adventure with us.

“The education team at Thurrock Council have supported us with our temporary accommodation.

“Our parents, staff and pupils are all very excited about the plans for our permanent site. This state-of-the-art building with its inspirational landscaping, which B&K have designed with the school, will help us to create a truly inclusive school community in the heart of Grays.

“It will be a school, where our rich cooperative values will empower young people from all backgrounds to grow and flourish.”

Early plans show two entrances that separate cars from pedestrians and cyclists, as well as landscaping that includes a habitat area and pond.

There is also an all-weather pitch, football pitch, running track, indoor sports hall, activity centre and changing facilities.

Details of the classrooms remain unclear while the planning application is being put together but B&K describe the building as having a “design that encapsulates the digital education vision” where the priority of the school is to use “the best technologies”.