New £7m school top of the class

PRIMARY MOVES FROM ITS OLD VICTORIAN HOME TO BRAND NEW, BIGGER BUILDING – AND IT’S PROVING A HIT

PUPILS in Birtley have traded in a Victorian schoolhouse for purpose-built classrooms in a £7m new building.

The new school year brought a change of scene for youngsters at Ravensworth Terrace Primary School, as they moved into a newly completed school building on Mount Pleasant Road.

Though they’ve served the community in Gateshead for more than 100 years, teachers say the Victorian buildings which used to house the classrooms had become difficult to use, and were too small for the growing school’s needs.

Now, head Denise Thompson says the new setting has given her pupils a renewed energy and enthusiasm for school.

She said: “They’ve just been wowed by how amazing the building is, coming from a really old environment to this new environment, it’s so spacious and light – the children just love it, they are so excited to come to school. Children have even asked me to open over the weekend.

“The old school just wasn’t built for the sort of learning we do now – you had these big old radiators, pipes on show. The change has had a really big impact on everyone, the children are somehow calmer now, I think because of the bigger space.

“We’ve been an Outstanding school for some time now, but now we have an outstanding building to go with it.”

Her thoughts were echoed by 10-yearold Thomas Francis, who said: “This new school is amazing, it’s massive, bigger than the old school and there’s a lot more space and it’s just lovely.”

The school currently caters to 283 pupils as it gradually expands into a twoform entry primary, and will eventually have space for around 360 students.

The new build features a multi-use games area, a large hall which its hoped will increase opportunities for drama and dance at the school and a new junior football pitch.

Cash for the project came from the Department of Education’s Education Funding Agency, with a contribution from Gateshead Council.

Ms Thompson paid tribute to the hard work of teachers, who strove to ensure the school could open in time for the start of term.

She said: “We didn’t get in until the middle of the holidays, so staff came in over the holiday to make sure it was ready as soon as the children came back – people were surprised we managed it in time.”