Member Article

Ashbourne primary school marks £1.4million development on site with special ceremony

Pupils from St Oswald’s C of E Primary School, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, have celebrated the construction of three new classrooms at their school - with a special topping-out ceremony led by Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson.

The £1.4million project, procured through the Scape Regional Construction framework, began in January of this year, and will see the building of three new classrooms on the school’s site, as well as the creation of an exterior space for sports and outdoor activities.

On the morning of Thursday 18 July, six chosen students from St Oswald’s took part in a topping-out ceremony to mark the positive progress of the scheme, with completion expected in September, ready for the new academic year.

Representatives from G F Tomlinson and the school also attended the celebratory event – which saw the pupils getting arty and having the chance to make their mark on the new building by drawing self-portraits on a branded board.

The portraits will then be permanently displayed in the new area of the school, alongside their names and the current date, as a way for the youngsters to have a sense of belonging in their new classroom areas.

Craig Stopper, framework manager at G F Tomlinson, said: “Works are going extremely well at St Oswald’s, and after our successful ground-breaking event in January, we wanted to mark the success of the project so far with a ceremony before the start of the summer holidays involving the children that will be using the new classrooms.

“The topping-out ceremony was a great way of making the pupils feel as involved as possible in the construction and the positive growth taking place at their school, and we look forward to opening the doors of the new classrooms in September – ready and fresh for the new school year.”

Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, said: “There is an urgent need to upgrade our schools to ensure high-quality teaching and learning environments. I am proud to see that through our Regional Construction framework, G F Tomlinson are delivering first-class spaces and facilities to maximise the provision of much-needed additional school places.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Eloise Cantello .