The new school will replace the existing Hawthorne Primary and Nursery, which is now split over two sites and lacks sufficient space for further expansion to meet an increasing demand for school places.

The new school will initially provide 315 places, with capacity for further expansion to provide 420 places. The school is on schedule to be completed by summer 2019, ready for the start of the new academic year.

Councillor Kay Cutts MBE, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said:

"Between 2013 and 2016, the County Council invested approximately £70m of Government Basic Need funding to create more than 5,500 additional permanent primary school places to meet demand and we continue to invest in the areas where it is needed, either through expanding existing sites or building new schools.

“There has been a considerable amount of new housing development in Bestwood over the last ten years, which has attracted many young families to the area. With further housing development in Bestwood outlined in Gedling's Local Plan, it was important that we acted swiftly to ensure the extra demand for school places could be met.

I know that children, parents and teachers can't wait for the new school to be built and they are excited that construction work is now underway. Providing a modern, high quality learning environment for our children can only be beneficial for their education."

The 2,000-metre squared design will also incorporate the opportunity for development of out-of-hours community use, providing new facilities for the local area.

Students from Hawthorne Primary will be able to see their new school develop whilst it is being constructed, with regular site visits that will tie in with the curriculum and keep them up-to-date and engaged with the progress of the build.

Funded by Nottinghamshire County Council, the project is being delivered by Arc Partnership, focusing on quality of output, value for money and customer service excellence.