‘New school building is a dream come true for us’
AFTER many years of fundraising by a school in the Cotswolds, pupils and staff at Temple Guiting Church of England Primary School are now very happy to have a building they can call home.
Following planning approval in September 2022, contractor Nesbitt Restorations and architect Timothy Tasker Architects Ltd began the construction programme and in just over eight months of work the building was completed for the start of term in September last year.
Now an official ribbon-cutting presentation by fashion retailer George Davies has been made for the school where before this new venture, Temple Guiting Cofe were using temporary buildings for their reception and class one. Office spaces were damp, leaking, dark and poorly ventilated too.
The new building which accommodates two new classrooms, toilets, staffroom, reception and office accommodation marks the 150th anniversary of the Victorian school building which originally accommodated a vaulted teaching space.
The consultant team and the school including teachers, governors and pupils embraced the design process to develop a brief which included a requirement for an environmentally sensitive building.
“We have loved working with the school throughout the process,” Timothy Tasker said.
“Providing healthy spaces for pupils and teachers to thrive should be a minimum requirement for every school where healthy buildings are inherently sustainable.”
The building also has solar panels fitted which can generate 50 to 60 KW of power for the eight bright months of the year.
George Davies, who headed UK retailer Next before starting the fashion label ‘George at Asda’ in the 1990s, cut the ribbon as one of the school’s donors and headteacher Ann Barry says the
school “feels blessed to have a building that is so much more than we could ever have hoped for”.
Ann added: “We have two wonderful light-filled, spacious and welcoming classrooms and the atmosphere in each of them is calm and purposeful. We have all noticed what a positive impact the building has had on the wellbeing of our pupils and the staff. We are thrilled with the covered play area that means our littlest pupils can be outside no matter what the weather throws at us.
“We had a wonderful team in Tim Tasker as architect and William Nesbitt, of Nesbitt Restorations, as our builder. They really understood our vision and delivered way more than we could have asked for.
“All of this was made possible by the wonderful donors who allowed us to pursue our dream of a fantastic new building.”