Andy Burnham lays first bricks of Fred Longworth's £24m development

On Wednesday, January 18, the Greater Manchester Mayor and former Leigh MP, Andy Burnham, laid the first bricks of Fred Longworth High School's huge new £24m development.

One of 50 schools across the country placed on the government's 10-year 'School Rebuilding Programme', Fred Longworth's new era began with the construction of a £3.3m maths and humanities building in 2021.

The construction of the rest of the £24m project began in April 2022, which will see the entire school shifting into new state-of-the-art buildings on the high school's former sports pitches.

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Andy Burnham signing the steelwork of the new building (Image: Leigh Journal)

'Long live Freddies' (Image: Leigh Journal)

A dignitary of Fred Longworth since visiting the school's 50th-anniversary celebrations in 2014, Mr Burnham laid the first bricks of the new school and left his mark by signing 'Long live Freddies' on the skeleton steelwork that will support the building.

He was joined in doing so by Freddie's headteacher Paul Davies, the longest serving member of staff Anita Mullineaux, the recently retired Brian McPhail, and head boy and girl Alfie Dunkerley and Ruby Coleman.

Laying the first bricks of the new development (Image: Leigh Journal)

Tyldesley's new state-of-the-art school will include dance and activity studios, a main hall for performances, a dining room facility for events, food technology and graphic design facilities, construction workshops, and classroom use for student and adult education.

A school that boasts two European champion athletes in their alumni, Ella Toone and Keely Hodgkinson, Freddie's will also install a four-court Sports England sports hall in the new L-shape building.

The state-of-the art buildings are expected to be completed in the autumn (Image: Leigh Journal)

Constructed by building developers BAM, students are expected to move into the new three-storey, carbon net-zero buildings by October 2023.

The second phase of the development will then begin by demolishing the majority of the existing school building and installing new sports fields in its place.

The full project is aimed to be completed by spring 2024.

An artists impression of Fred Longworth's new school (Image: Fred Longworth)

An artists impression of Fred Longworth's new school (Image: Fred Longworth)

Headteacher Paul Davies said: "Great things already happen here at Fred Longworth and this rebuilding project will complete our property strategy to create a modern, efficient and engaging learning environment to enable us to raise the bar even higher.

"It’s certainly going to be an exciting few years at Freddie’s as we see the new school develop."

Inside the structure of the Freddie's new school (Image: Leigh Journal)