Graven Hill: School opens on self-build development

Matt Green (head teacher, second from right) posed with others involved in the project when the school was completed

Term has started at a brand new school built on the site of a self-build community.

Graven Hill near Bicester, Oxfordshire, is the UK's biggest self-build development.

Graven Hill Primary School occupies a three-acre site and is being run by the Warriner Multi-Academy Trust.

The two-form entry school has a capacity for 420 pupils, and has 12 classrooms and 13,000 sqm (42,650 sq ft) of pitches and play areas.

It includes an early years facility that can accommodate a further 90 pupils aged between two and four in three classrooms.

Day one saw 13 reception children and 27 pre-school children attend.

'Coming together'

Oliver Vistesen, 37, whose daughter Ayla was the first new pupil through the gates, described her as "both excited and nervous at the same time".

He added: "I think she's been looking forward to it.

"She's seen the school from its inception, from its foundation to being built up as we live just down the road, and every day we cycle past back and forth."

Building began at Graven Hill in 2016 and is expected to continue until 2032

Cherwell District Council bought the site where Graven Hill is now based from the Ministry of Defence in 2014 to build 1,900 homes.

They consist of self-builds, new builds, affordable housing, and apartments.

The first phase of individual self-build plots was released in 2016. More than 500 homes have since been built.

Mr Vistesen starting building his house in 2018, and moved into Graven Hill in 2020.

He said: "There's a pub in the works, there's still some shops to be filled out, there's still some work to do, but it's really coming together."

Head teacher Matt Green described the new school as "about as state-of-the-art as it's possible to get".

He told the BBC: "I'm feeling very excited. It's been a lot of work to get to this point to be able to open a brand new school in a brand new community.

"It's not lost on me what a privilege that is to do."

Adrian Unitt, operations director at Graven Hill Village Development Company, said it was "fantastic" to have delivered the school "prior to the occupation of the 550th home at Graven Hill".

He added: "Designed to promote collaboration and flexible learning, the new school will enhance the great sense of community spirit here."

CEO of the trust Annabel Kay said: "We are so excited by the opportunity to work closely with members of the Graven Hill community to ensure that the primary school is one that we are all proud of and, most importantly, one where our children can thrive."

Calum Miller, cabinet member for finance and property at Oxfordshire County Council, said: "I know how much residents in Graven Hill have been looking forward to the opening of their primary school.

"A school stands at the heart of its community so this marks an important point in the development of Graven Hill."

The building has been designed to Net Zero Carbon principles and includes solar panels, which will provide power to the local grid when the school is not in use.