The opening of the new facility is the culmination of many years’ work led by Sheffield City Council to expand the number of secondary school places to meet the need in southwest Sheffield, caused by a 25% rise in birth rates between 2002 and 2012. Silverdale School, which is part of Chorus Education Trust, has worked together with Sheffield City Council to deliver this solution to the shortfall of secondary school places for the young people of southwest Sheffield.

The additional students that Silverdale School can now accommodate will, by 2027, result in an additional 300 students, including those with special educational needs or disabilities, being able to access high quality education within their own catchment area.

The project, which was project managed by Gate and Bar and built by Portakabin, was designed to minimise disruption to students and the school’s neighbours. The resulting three storey building, which stands alongside the original school building, includes 14 state-of-the-art classrooms and a dedicated Sixth Form facility.

Sarah Sims, Head of Silverdale School said: “We are delighted with our wonderful new facilities. It is particularly important to us that our additional capacity means that we can offer amazing Silverdale opportunities to the children and young people within our catchment area and beyond. Our staff and students are already feeling the benefits that the cutting-edge facilities and increased space are having, and we look forward to sharing these with more students in the future.”

Councillor Dawn Dale, Chair of Education, Children and Families Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “This has been a huge project and it’s very rewarding to see the opening of the new facility at Silverdale, which has been made possible by lots of planning ahead, excellent partnership working and hard work.

“The creation of these additional school places will make a huge difference to more Sheffield families, especially those who are more vulnerable and those who have special educational needs. We look forward to seeing children flourish and thrive in this wonderful new setting.”