Rye Community Primary School is expanding and the builders, Morgan Sindall are already in the process of constructing a two-storey extension housing a bespoke nursery, two classrooms, a staff room and group work space.
The expansion is due to be complete by Christmas and will accommodate an increase in students at the school. It will provide a purpose built nursery for children from two years of age and will allow them access to an Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. The space has physical links to the reception classrooms to aid the transition into their primary education at the school.
The project team will fit a roof light in one of the first floor classrooms to make good use of natural light and deliver some external landscaping including the addition of a soft tarmac area for nursery pupils.
Cllr Nick Bennett, East Sussex County Council lead member for education and inclusion, said: “Rye is a growing town and the new extension will help us to meet the demand for school places now and in the future. The development will provide a valuable addition to Rye Primary and the wider community and everyone associated with the school is excited to see the new extension take shape.”
Julien Jones, area director at Morgan Sindall (who were involved in the initial construction of the school), said: “We’re delighted to have been appointed to this significant scheme, which will provide the pupils and staff at Rye Community Primary School with a spacious extension and rejuvenated teaching space. It’s great to have some members of the project team, which built the original school, back on site to deliver this expansion and I know it means a lot to them. Morgan Sindall is well versed in education projects of this nature and is committed to involving the school as much as we possibly can. Pupils at Rye Community Primary School have already received several updates as the project gets underway and have shown great enthusiasm as they watch their school begin to grow.”
The extension is necessary to cope with rising pupil numbers, from 330 to 425 PAN (published admission number). By mid-2015, it was already at 365 and this year will see it rise to 390 pupils, plus 26 at nursery level.
Staffing levels are already adequate for the new 2 form entry (up from 1½). It is hoped to keep the two temporary portakabin classrooms, one for a music room and the other as an ‘outbreak’ room for small group working.
The Chair of Governors, Niki Stuart said, “It’s going to be wonderful, but the most amazing thing is how calm and industrious the school is running, during the massively disrupting onsite building work. The builders had planned to do the noisy piling work during the school holidays, but they struck a mains sewer, which set them back. Completion date is expected in November 2016, if all goes to plan”.
Sources: Morgan Sindall and Rye Primary School
Photo: library image