ST JOHN BOSCO ARTS COLLEGE

The girls’ college has over 1,000 pupils and was completely rebuilt in 2015 as part of the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson’s replacement programme, which saw 12 schools rebuilt in the new £169 million scheme.

Headteacher Anne Pontifex said: “Our brilliant new £18m school building is a wonderful environment for pupils and staff to thrive in. I’m incredibly proud of our building and the difference it has made to our whole school community.”

The new 3G pitch joins the brand new sports and dance facilities, including a gym, two double-height dance studios and a new pavilion.

For this project, TigerTurf’s Atomic Pro carpet was chosen due it its hard wearing properties. Atomic Pro 60 is specifically designed to meet the player requirements at community level right through to elite level and is accredited with a FIFA Quality mark.

The new pitch project was given part funding by the Football Association and Football Foundation and work commenced on site in March. The design includes dividing nets which will enable the school to rent out various size pitches for 11, 9, 7 and 5-a-side football. The installation of floodlighting means that the facility will be available for use up until 10pm at night throughout the year.

The installation of the full-size pitch by McArdle took approximately 11 weeks in total and, during the build, 5,000 tonnes of stone were imported, six floodlight columns were erected and a total of 7,420 square metres of artificial turf was laid.

The new facility was proudly handed over to the school in May 2016.

Since the recent opening of the 3G pitch, the school have used it for Ladies football training by Liverpool Football Club’s Foundation College. The collaboration between St John Bosco Arts College and the Liverpool FC Foundation College provides a unique opportunity for young ladies, aged 16-19, to follow a bespoke educational programme with two outstanding institutions. They offer the L3 Extended Diploma in Sports as well as a range of academic and technical qualifications.

Students are trained by LFC coaches and players from the Liverpool Ladies team and play in local, regional and national competitions. They have opportunities to travel abroad and play against international opposition. Students undertake the FA Level 1 coaching award, offering the chance to become a coach with the LFC Foundation.