WESTBURY Junior School is to benefit from a new extension, replacing two old mobile classrooms with four new attached classrooms and additional toilet facilities.
The improvements will also allow the school to become a base for the Extended Schools Services for Westbury and Warminster, which had previously been based at Kingdown School in Warminster.
It is a project that the school, which has around 225 pupils, has been hoping for a long time. Headteacher Richard Hatt says he is also delighted that the funding from the local authority demonstrates a recognition of the value of the school.
“Yes, it is going to give us a little more room but what it’s really going to do is bring the school into the 21st century,” he said. “We have got two mobiles that date back from 1963 and the rest of the school building is 1958, so we’ve been hoping for a long time that the local authority would find the money to upgrade our school. I was rather doom laden when the cuts began but they’ve said they’ll invest in getting rid of the outside huts and put in four new classrooms that are connected to the school.”
As part of the work, rewiring of the whole school will also take place.
Richard Hatt continued, “The children and staff have been working for a very long time to make the school better, they [the local authority] have recognised that and said yes, we’re going to invest.”
The layout will enable the new classrooms to be accessed from extending the existing school corridors and will provide a sheltered courtyard space, which can be used as a secure external teaching space. Each classroom will have its own wet area, cloaks and store.
A base for the Extended Schools Team.
The extension will include an office for Extended Schools, which has previously been based at Kingdown School in Warminster. Richard Hatt said, “The lead used to be Kingdown School but it’s now shifted over to us. This is highly unusual for a primary school to be a lead school and the staff attached are all moving into our school. We’ve been active in the community and it’s a bit more recognition.”
