Garway Primary School has grown significantly in recent years due to increased parental applications and having a thriving governor led pre-school on site.
The school is currently operating at the maximum capacity of the buildings available. Lack of sufficient classroom space has meant that the main school hall has been used as additional classroom space for the last two years.
Planning was obtained for a new Early Years classroom to provide much needed accommodation and to improve provision for the youngest pupils. The new building is designed specifically to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and incorporates much needed free access to covered outdoor play space. The new building is designed to a high level of sustainability, to reduce energy consumption, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
There is no local authority capital funding available for the provision of permanent classrooms to accommodate the pupils currently taught in the school’s hall or mobile classrooms, so governors have been compelled to explore options for new accommodation which are affordable from the school’s delegated budget.
The school governors have been extremely diligent over several years and, with the help of some generous donations from local businesses, have accrued sufficient school balances to cover 70% of the project costs. A Local Authority interest free loan is required to meet the final 30% of costs and will be repaid over 6 annual instalments from April 2023.