CONSTRUCTION has started on Somerset’s first carbon net zero school, on the new Orchard Grove housing development on the edge of Taunton.

The start of work was marked with a timber framing ceremony after land on the housing estate was handed to Somerset Council by the Orchard Grove Consortium.

Orchard Grove Primary School is expected to welcome staff and students from September next year.

It is sponsored by Castle Partnership Trust, which also runs Court Fields, Wellesley Park, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel schools in Wellington.

The new school will offer places to 420 pupils from reception to year six, as well as 52 nursery places, and feature three sports pitches, a production kitchen, and a library.

It will serve the surrounding communities and the design allows for an extension to accommodate a further 210 children if needed in the future.

Funded by Somerset Council as part of its school growth programme, the £12.3 million build will incorporate solar panel technology, air source heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging points in line with the authority’s commitment to decarbonisation.

Somerset executive Cllr Tessa Munt said: “These are exciting first steps for our new school build.

“We are creating a modern learning environment for Orchard Grove Primary’s future pupils, where they will be supported to thrive and achieve.

“Our environmentally-friendly building shows our young people that we are committed to their academic achievement, personal development, and their futures beyond the realms of education, as we seek to mitigate and control our impact on the environment.”

Fellow executive Cllr Dixie Darch said: “Orchard Grove Primary will be an historic building of which Somerset can be proud, being the first fully net zero, climate resilient school in our county.

“The energy efficiency of the building will allow for cost savings which can be channelled back into educational resources.

“There will be more like this to come as the council delivers against its climate emergency strategy, and, meanwhile, we continue to decarbonise as many of our existing buildings as possible.”

Vistry Western regional managing director Emma Colin, part of the Orchard Grove Consortium, said: “The new school will provide an essential amenity and we are pleased to play a part in its progress.

“Delivering new developments is about building futures and creating opportunities, and a new school embodies this sentiment perfectly.

“A green, sustainable, high-quality facility like this is such an exciting addition and we know countless families will benefit from it in the many years to come.” 

Orchard Grove headteacher Richard Healey said: “The school will centre itself firmly in the heart of its local community by ensuring pupils have a clear sense of what makes a good citizen.

“Pupils will have a strong sense of themselves in the local, national, and global context and of the responsibility they have to others, in the present and in the future.

“Orchard Grove will create an environment where children, staff and the community can build a positive and progressive school culture around sustainability and education.

“Within the setting of Somerset’s first net zero carbon school, children will be inspired by a unique curriculum that is preparing them for lifelong learning and a positive impact in the world.”

Orchard Grove pupils are currently being bussed to Wellington’s Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School where they have the same classes, subjects, and teachers as they will when they move to the completed building next year.