PUPILS at Clyro Primary School returned from the half-term break to find their school had moved.
The youngsters weren’t too surprised though as the move was part of a plan to build a new school on the site of their old one.
The children are now having their lessons on a temporary site – especially built in the grounds of Clyro Court.
The primary pupils will be taught in four portable classrooms and will spend their breaktimes playing on a new purpose-built tarmacked surface. The children will also have access to an astro turf pitch and a neighbouring field for their games lessons.
The agreement for the school to use the grounds of Clyro Court was made with the permission of David Hodby who owns the grounds, which includes the Grade II-star listed Baskerville Hall Hotel.
On Friday, June 9 parents of the pupils were invited to come and enjoy tea and cake whilst having a look around the new buildings that have been provided for their children.
The parents and children were surprised to see how well-equipped the new school is. In fact the temporary site is more spacious than the pupils’ old school, which is due to be demolished and replace with a brand-new school as part of a £23 million investment to build five new primary schools in “the Gwenyfed cluster” by the Welsh Government and Powys County Council.
Clyro Primary School head teacher Sarah Groves said the ‘new’ school’s hall is now large enough to enable the children to all eat together at lunchtime, put on productions on site, such as their forthcoming Key Stage 2 production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’, run their after school club and offer a new nursery from September. With so much space now, the school is able to continue to provide all of the children’s usual curriculum, plus some extras, such as drumming lessons, sporting clubs and dementia coffee afternoons with the elderly.
Each classroom is also equipped with a state-of-art ‘Clevertouch’ TV – a huge 72-inch interactive screen which acts like a giant tablet and connects to the internet giving staff and children access to educational and research resources on the internet, such as video clips that can be played during lessons. All of the five new schools being built in the Gwernyfed cluster will have Clevertouch TV’s, but Clyro Primary School is the first to begin using them.
Mrs Groves said: “We are so lucky to have the facilities that we have been given, as we still have the beauty of having a new school built but with none of the disruption that goes with it.
“A very big thank you to Powys County Council, (portable buildings firm) Wernicks and (contractors) Wilmott-Dixon for making all of this happen. It also couldn’t have happened without all of the volunteers who helped us to get everything sorted, ready for the children’s return,and especially I’m grateful to all of my amazing staff, who have worked tirelessly to pack up the school, unpack it at the other end and ensure it is an inviting and exciting learning environment for everyone to work in. It looks amazing!”