Students help bury time capsule beneath new school

A variety of school and community items were placed inside a time capsule and buried beneath the floor of the heart space within the new Cornwallis Academy building today (18 January 2011).

School items included a working laptop, filmed student interviews with the Head and Deputy Head of the Academy, uniform and school planner.

Local parish councils and primary feeder schools also contributed objects such as village photographs and history books, meeting minutes and newsletters.

Dignitaries including the Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Eric Hotson, and KCC Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, Cllr Sarah Hohler, attended the ceremony.

Representatives of contractor Carillion also joined the occasion as did school governors, senior management of the Academy and students from each year group.

Head of Cornwallis, David Simons, said: "This ceremony marks the beginning of the end of building our new school and will give future generations of Cornwallis students a snapshot of life in 2011. We are only too aware of how lucky we are in getting a new state-of-the-art Academy in the current economic climate and look forward to moving in this summer."

The new building is to be handed over by Carillion at the end of June in time for students to commence lessons at the start of September 2011.