Two schools in Nailsea are celebrating improvements to their buildings which have led to closer links between the two and better facilities for children and staff.
Work has now been completed on the Federation of Hannah More Infant and Grove Junior Schools, in Whiteoak Way, to update the buildings and provide one entrance for both.
There is now just one access point and office for the infant and junior schools, a bigger school hall, a joint staff room and a new ICT suite.
Staff are delighted with the changes which have led to closer working relationships between teachers at both schools and more integration between infant and junior school pupils to make transitions up to big school easier.
Headteacher Kay Church said: “We’ve been waiting for improvements to be made for a very long time.
“The Grove School site in particular needed some attention so this really has addressed some quite significant issues that were coming up.
“Last year was Grove’s 50th anniversary on the present school site so it was wonderful to have the building done in the golden anniversary year.
“The main entrance is the most significant change. The purpose was to provide a single entrance that joins together both schools so that when parents and visitors come they only have one point of access and one office.
“In terms of welcoming people, it’s so much better. It means children from both schools can move freely between each site.
“Because of the redesign of the office, it’s meant we’ve been able to knock down the old offices within Grove so we’ve got a much bigger school hall.
“This means all the children can now have lunch in the same area next to the school kitchen.
“The biggest improvement is we no longer have to use any of the old Elliott buildings.
“We’ve been able to make sure all the children are now in classes on the main school site.
“We’ve got a new ICT suite with greatly improved provision and one staff room so staff from both schools are able to spend more time together and support each other.
“Enabling younger children to mix with the older children has been the biggest benefit as it makes transition a lot easier for them.
“The work involved very little in the way of new buildings, they’ve redeveloped what was already there.
“They have done an awful lot for that amount of money.
“Within the redevelopment we also had some new furniture to brighten up the hall at lunch time and had some new seating.
“Our vision for both schools is ‘growing and learning together, aspiring to excellence.
“Obviously the building has been a big vehicle for that. It’s made a huge difference on a day-to-day basis.”
To mark Grove Junior School’s 50th anniversary on the site, the school is currently trying to raise £1,500 by the end of the academic year to pay for a puppy to be trained with Guide Dogs for the Blind.
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