Morgan Sindall starts on replacement Lydiate primary
The contractor is now on site with a new-build school to replace the 1950s school in the Sefton village.
Working for the Department for Education, Morgan Sindall Construction said that the current building is “in a poor state of repair with significant structural issues and outdated building services”.
In its place, MS will deliver a modern, sustainable two-storey primary school with improved teaching accommodation, external learning and play areas, sports provision, parking and landscaping.
The redevelopment project, procured through the DfE Construction Framework North West, will allow the school to grow from one form of entry to two.
Pupils will benefit from a dedicated dance studio, a new forest school area, spaces for outdoor learning, upgraded technology and new landscaping across the grounds. A separate drop off entrance has been designed into the scheme to ease morning congestion.
The school will stay open throughout the build. With the site sitting within a residential area, the team has planned the works around the school day, with safety and security measures in place for pupils, staff and neighbouring residents, and regular communication with the local community as work progresses.
Planning permission was secured in June 2026, following an application prepared by Pozzoni, the architect for the scheme. The wider Lydiate project team also includes Mott MacDonald, Clancy Consulting, Tace and Ares.
Steven Gregory, area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “Getting on site is the moment this project becomes real for the school and for Lydiate. The existing building has served its community well, but what we are building in its place will provide an even better place to teach and learn.
“The dance studio, the forest school and the outdoor learning spaces give staff far more to work with, and the new drop off arrangement will make a practical difference to families every morning. Expanding to two forms of entry also means more local children can get a place at their local school.
“This is an investment in Lydiate as much as it is in the school, and there is real excitement here about what the new building will offer. Working through the DfE Construction Framework North West has let us engage early with the school and the department, and the school stays open while we build, so we will be working closely with staff, families and neighbours to keep disruption down and get this delivered safely.”
Recent projects delivered by the firm for the DfE in the region include Pear Tree Academy in Stockport and Newhouse Academy in Heywood, both completed in 2024.
There is also Star Radcliffe Academy – a 750-pupil ‘superblock’ project – and Dixons Newall Green Academy in Wythenshawe. Riverside School on the Wirral is inked in to start on site next year.
The programme covers both mainstream and SEND provision, and is shaped around the DfE’s objectives of net zero carbon in operation, value for money and educational quality.
