Our school is full of character and combines charming and quirky period features with modern additions. Classrooms, the dining room, school hall and offices are based in a series of two and three storey converted houses, the oldest of which dates back to 1901 and has a beautiful stained glass window and original Victorian floor tiles.
The school’s location, a short walk from Walsall town centre, means outside space is limited but we are resourceful and find ways to negate the geography. For example, we have created direct, secure access from the playground into the magnificent Walsall Arboretum, a 35-acre, beautifully maintained Victorian park that we neighbour. We make good use of the arboretum for outdoor learning, cross country, sports days, picnics and more and travel a matter of minutes to a first class university sports facility for games and PE lessons.
There is an ongoing investment programme to maintain and continually improve the fabric and flow of our school buildings, while retaining their charm and character. Significant renovation to our Senior School classrooms and corridors during recent years has created a fantastic learning environment.
An ambitious 2016 Summer estates programme involved a complete makeover to the School’s current Nursery and Lower Prep School playgrounds, as well as a new floodlit, multi-use sports area on the main school playground.
This investment, totally £200,000 included a 500m2 flood-lit multi-use sports pitch, pre-marked, to enable during and after school sports training and fixtures. The Nursery and Lower Prep playgrounds were also resurfaced and replaced with brightly coloured play areas, complete with games markings and built with a soft artificial grass material to ensure children can play safely.
Earlier this year we unveiled the final phase of a £43,000 makeover to the School hall, transforming it into a fully functioning theatre and performance area.
The project mark the final part of a wider programme, which began in 2015 with new windows, a suspended ceiling with new lighting and building of a stage area.
The final stage of the project took place during the 2016 Easter holidays and the School is now the proud owner of a fully functioning performance area and theatre, complete with new stage and blackout wall curtains, a new lighting rig, lighting desk and sound system with mixer deck.
In addition, we have wireless coverage throughout the school, which means mobile devices can be used in any classroom to support any subject area, allowing for a fully integrated and cross-curricular approach to ICT.
