Southend High School For Boys - Building Extensions & Premises Upgrades

Building Extensions & Premises Upgrades

Although the building was originally built almost symmetrically in 1939, it has undergone various changes which have meant that this is no longer the case.

After having sustained bombing damage during World War II, a new roof was constructed over the main hall and the (former) sports hall which also required new flooring due to the German Bomb that laid in situ for 11 years (now the Frampton Theatre). It was recently after this time (approx. 1954) that classrooms W14 and W15 were built; originally they were not here; which is the reason why the upstairs corridor in the West End does not complete a full circuit around the quadrangle.

In 1961, the technology block was built, along with 8 "temporary" demountable huts to the west of this building and a connecting boiler room to the rear of the stage of the main hall.

In 1992, QE1 and QE2 classrooms were built inside the East End quadrangle to cope with the demand arising from extra pupils.

In 1995, the Hitchcock Library was constructed to fill in the West End quadrangle with a new art room, W16 on top. The library was needed to alleviate overcrowding in the "Old Library" which is located above the headmaster's office & main school office.

In 1998, the Sixth Form centre was built, removing four of the "temporary huts" 37 years after they were built.

In 2003, the Language College was constructed to create room for an expanded intake of pupils; an extra 25 per year starting in the 2002-2003 year. As this was built, subject rooms also got swapped around; Mathematics moved from the four other huts into E1, E2, E3 and QE1 (E1 and E9 were previously German rooms, E2, QE1, and QE2 were French rooms, and E3 was a Latin room). E9 became an extra English Room (previously English had just E5, E6, E7 and E8) and Religious Education gained the use of QE2. Music also gained the use of L6 in the Language College for a short period of time whilst the Sports Hall & Music Centre was under construction. In the Language College, German was moved into L1 and L2, Spanish into L6 and L9, French into L10, L11, L12, L14, L15 and L16. L4, L7, and L8 are small rooms used for speaking practice and L3 and L13 are computer suites.

Owing to such a long time in sub-standard accommodation in Music and Physical Education (as mentioned by the OFSTED report of 2001), a bid was made to Southend Borough Council for a grant to be awarded for a new Sports Hall and Music Centre (following the construction of a top quality facility at St Bernard's High School for Girls). Permission was granted and the sum of £2.25 million was given to the school for the construction of this new facility. The school began a development appeal to raise a further £475,000 in order to equip the centre with the latest fitness machines and recording studio. This was the largest amount an English High School had hoped to raise in the history of British education. The appeal lasted for 3 years until 2006 when it was closed. The total raised was £376,000; slightly less than expected. Unlike the Sixth Form Centre and Language College, which were built from prefabricated units in a brick shell, this building was designed by Peter Emptage & Associates and built to last. According to documentation, this building is constructed to last 120 years. Constructed in a steel frame and finished in glass, red brick, micro fibbed aluminium panelling and a beech coloured wood, the new centre boasts a 5 badminton court size sports hall, the largest school sports hall in Southend Borough (the only larger indoor hall is that at Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre). This building was completed in September 2005 and is now well used; not only by members of the school community but also the wider community in the evenings and at weekends.

Further plans for the school as part of the Development Appeal included another Art room constructed on top of the old changing rooms in the West End (which has now been developed into the new Careers room, Sixth Form study room, and reprographics) and the transformation of L6 from a "British Red Cross store" to a food technology room. Instead, L6 has been changed into a Spanish room, whilst the Art room has not yet come to fruition. Other changes that have occurred as part of the original 3 year plan was the transformation of the old Gymnasium into the new Frampton Theatre, the partition of W9 into half to extend W8 and W10 Chemistry laboratories, and the refurbishment of the old Careers room in W6 into a Biology laboratory. The old music department has now become the home of the site team and a special needs room has been allocated on the right of the stage in the Main Hall. The room on the left has been used as exam desk storage since the Music centre was opened and the Music office was moved. For many years, the area under the stage was used as a music classroom/music rehearsal room/storage room. Since 2004 it was used to store a vast number of organ pipes with the view that the school organ would be extended. However, funds have also been dropped from this area and hence it has now been cleared (as of Christmas 2007) and is now used as a maintenance office/workshop for the premises department at school.

In November 2008 two temporary classrooms were installed to the east of the main buildings between the music centre and the rear exit. These buildings have been constructed to relieve the inevitable stress of the new, larger pupil intake and also to provide alternative classrooms for the rooms disrupted by the planned complete window changes in the main building. The planning application was granted subject to the condition that the rooms are removed once the extension to the Sports Hall is completed.

In May 2009, a planning application was submitted to Southend Council to extend the Sports Hall & Music Centre on its western side, effectively infilling the underused grass area. The application included 6 classrooms over two phases; four in Phase 1 and 2 IT suites in Phase 2, located to the north of Phase 1. The four classrooms will be used to house the Mathematics department and include 111 square metres of circulation space as well as ample storage and an office. A connection will be created from the fitness suite to the upstairs of the new extension, but will only come into use during emergency evacuations or disabled people using the lift in the main Sports Hall. Construction has begun in February 2010 with scheduled completion for Phase 1 in June 2010.

Over the summer months of 2010, T3 was converted to a food technology room due to the government's requirements for all schools to teach food technology as part of the curriculum beginning year 2010/11.

In December 2009, a planning application was submitted to Southend Council to extend the Dining Hall into the eating area with a 150 square metre room, linked to both the dining hall and main hall. This allows the room to be used both for the lunchtime seating expansion of the dining hall, exam desk expansion during exam season, and for light refreshments during school events such as the annual drama performance or music concerts.