Shillingstone New School Blog

Window design

shillingstonenewschool — Sat, 29 May 2010 10:24:52 +0000

Tracey Sheppard has submitted her design for the proposed etched windows and the design can be seen on request in school. There is a funding shortfall at present but work is underway to resolve this ahead of a final commitment being make at the next Full Governing Body meeting, which takes place on 10 June 2010.

Staff and governors visit the new school site

shillingstonenewschool — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:47:51 +0000

Last week staff and governors had the opportunity to visit the new school site. There is still lots of scaffolding and no roof but the shape and form of the new building was clear to see – it’s going to be wonderful!! The timber frame will be on show as an internal feature in various areas of the school and with the big glass windows and fabulous site its going to be a superb place to educate the children of Shillingstone.

You can click on the photos to enlarge…..

The weather finally caught up with us….

shillingstonenewschool — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:08:28 +0000

We have endured some difficult weather conditions since our build started in November 2009. There was unprecedented rainfall during the groundworks, frost and ice for laying foundations and now we have high winds slowing the the work of erecting the timber frame structure.

It was always agreed that the project team would review the completion date at Easter and it has now been concluded that it will not be possible to complete for the beginning of the academic year in September 2010. The new completion date is September 13th 2010 which means that the move from old to new will take place around the October half term. For information about term dates, please visit the school website at

www.shillingstone.dorset.sch.uk

Buy a brick to support the school!

shillingstonenewschool — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:04:13 +0000

The new school build is gathering pace, with walls beginning to rise up out of the winter mud. While the budget for the new school is secure the governors and staff have launched a Buy a Brick campaign to raise funds for new outdoor play equipment on the new site. As a Church Of England Voluntary Aided school, the funds that we raise through the ‘buy a brick’ campaign can be used to release further capital from other sources, increasing the money available. We plan to use the Gift Aid scheme to reclaim tax, so that the school will be able to derive considerable spending power from your donations.

The names of all the supporters will be displayed in a permanent display inside the school building. We don’t have any actual bricks to etch, so the display will be a chart of ‘virtual’ bricks with all the names displayed individually. We will also build a list of names on the school website as the campaign progresses.

Bricks can be purchased for £10 for individuals and £50 for companies. You can specify the name or message that you would like to appear on the brick. Bricks can be bought for family and friends, former pupils of the school – in fact anyone who would like recognise and to participate in this new era for Shillingstone School.

The donation form is attached and you can follow progress of the Buy a Brick Campaign on the school website. Enquires via the school are always welcome. Call or email Mrs Jane Stickland in the school office. 01258 860446

Thank you for supporting Shillingstone School.

Download Buy a Brick Order Form here

About moving away from Holy Rood Church

shillingstonenewschool — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:21:50 +0000

With the move to the new building half a mile away from the Parish Church, staff, pupils and governors alike were insistent that ways must be found to maintain the strong Christian ethos that has always characterised our school. Outward and visible signs were considered to be an essential way of helping to achieve this aim which is why various elements such as a cross on the wall next to the main entrance are included in the design of the new building.

Another symbolic idea was originally to have a stained-glass window somewhere in the school, and the governors looked at other new schools where this has been done, in some cases to striking effect. The location of such a window was discussed and, as in the other examples seen, the best place appeared to be in the hall because that is where assemblies and collective worship would be expected to take place. However, as the discussions and planning moved on it was agreed by all concerned that a better siting would be in the rounded section of the atrium between the classrooms, in what is intended to be a “quiet area” and library.

At about the same time inspiration was drawn from such places as the Parish Church at Moreton, Dorset, with its stunning clear engraved glass windows by Laurence Whistler – and engraved-glass artist Tracey Sheppard, whose studio is at Winchester, was considered as a potential designer for our purposes. She too has produced some outstanding work, examples of which can be seen in a number of local settings. So the idea has developed of an engraved window that will probably fill most or all of the central section of the “quiet area” window. This will achieve three major objectives:

it will symbolically link the new school to its Christian foundation, its history and the Parish Church
as you enter the building it will be right there in full view, yet at the same time not obstructing the view out into the surrounding countryside
it will provide permanent and sustaining inspiration for those making use of the quiet area.

Tracey has now visited the present school and the church, and has sought ideas from children, staff and governors. She hopes to incorporate at least some of these ideas into her design. In the near future she will sketch her plans for the window, discuss costings and other details with the governors, and it is sincerely hoped we can progress this project to its successful conclusion…

Photos of Foundation Stone Day

shillingstonenewschool — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:07:38 +0000

What a lovely day it was. The foundation stone, designed by Pippa Unwin, was laid by The Bishop of Sherborne with the assistance of representatives of the school.

Foundation stone ceremony

shillingstonenewschool — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:13:23 +0000

On March 10 at 3pm there will be a short ceremony to lay a foundation stone at the new school attended by the Bishop of Sherborne. I was going to say ‘weather permitting’ but we will be doing this one in the rain if necessary!!

We are not able to invite lots of people because of all the issues of inviting visitors onto a working building site – but anyone who would like to attend should contact the school.

Green energy assured for the new school

shillingstonenewschool — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:32:19 +0000

We’ve been successful in obtaining a grant for over £31000 (the full amount we could ask for) which represents about 50% of the cost of installing photo voltaic (electricity producing) solar panels on the roof of the school hall.

This will enable the school to reduce the cost of energy overall and ensure that a proportion of the electricity that we use is generated without burning fossil fuels. The photo voltaic cells will generate power for the school and surplus energy will be fed back into the National Grid, for which the school will receive payment via a feed-in tariff. This means that our power costs will be reduced and we will earn revenue whenever our power output exceeds consumption.

The funding is via the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. It’s great to have this environment friendly feature built into the school.

Taking shape

shillingstonenewschool — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:29:17 +0000

Here are the latest photos from the school site. Its still very muddy – the photographer nearly came off the site minus wellington boots on account of the deep and clinging nature of the mud!

Although work has been held up by the frosty weather, you can start to see elements of the floor plan taking shape.

Click the thumbnails to see larger photos.

Pouring concrete

shillingstonenewschool — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:54:03 +0000

The new school site has changed notably since the last photos were uploaded here. There is now a large area of hard standing at the entrance – this is where the entrance and car parking will ultimately be but for now it provides a mud-free zone for the site offices, vehicle parking and for access to the main building site. In the photos you can see the first foundations being poured – a sure sign that progress is being made even though the weather has been so unhelpful.