Time-lapse video shows progress on £14m Ercall Wood Technology College

Through the magic of time-lapse video, four months of building work have been reduced to just a few minutes.

The video has been made at Ercall Wood Technology College in Wellington, which is being rebuilt as part of a £14 million project, and it provides provide a priceless memory for pupils and teachers of the year their school changed for ever.

Each week the video is reduced into about 30 seconds of footage, allowing progress that appears painfully slow in real time to come alive.

• Watch the videos on the school's website here

The first video, from early March, shows an empty green landscape before the building work begins, while the most recent video from earlier this month, shows the frame of the structure coming into place.

Between those two dates, the videos document builders battling on through one of the coldest springs on record. The time lapse shows the gathering clouds towards the end of March and then the sudden arrival of snow as the camera lens is covered and the landscape turns white.

Subsequent videos capture the slow thaw as work continues on preparing foundations on land that is frozen and later soaked through days of torrential rain.

And, with the arrival of sunshine in May and June, comes the first physical signs of the building as the steel frame is put into place ready for the bricks and mortar to arrive.

Shepherd Construction Ltd has signed a five-year contract that will see artist's impressions of the new school finally come to life. So far 14 videos have been created to show the step-by-step stages of the construction. The videos are in week-long sections, recorded live before being sped up into 30-second clips.

Ercall Wood headteacher Chay Davis said: "Our pupils are very excited about getting a new school and can't wait to see the site transformed. The videos are a fascinating record of the work progressing. Much of the early videos show the land being prepared, but in the later footage the progress is more obvious.

"We shall keep the cameras rolling in future months so that anyone can watch the buildings taking shape."

The new state-of-the-art secondary school will cater for up to 900 pupils and will be built on the site of the existing college, which dates back to the 1940s.

The old building will be demolished to make way for the new facilities.

The build is all part of Telford & Wrekin council's £200 million investment into transforming the borough's schools and their Building Schools for the Future programme. The £14m rebuild will include new areas for specialist subjects, improved room layouts and teaching facilities.

Ercall Wood will specialise in cricket and sporting facilities, and playing fields will be created for community use once the old buildings have been demolished.

The building work on the new school is due to be completed in 2014 and the school hopes to open for the start of the new academic term in September next year.

Pupils have been keeping track of the construction project through the time-lapse videos.

They include 14-year-old Ross Hamilton, who said: "They give us a different view of the building work. We are all excited by the new school. I am looking forward to walking through the door for the very first time and using the new facilities"

Peter Bates, programme director for Shepherd Construction, said: "We are delighted to work on this exciting school project. The time-lapse videos are fascinating and show the work we are doing.

"We are looking forward to delivering a great learning environment for students and a valuable resource for the local community."

Formerly known as Wellington Grammar School, it was originally designed to accommodate approximately 300 students.

While it was extended in the 1960s, much of the general teaching accommodation at Ercall Wood Technology College is currently provided in demountable classrooms that are designed to be temporary.