A school in Hatfield Peverel where pupils are being taught in temporary classrooms is to create and equip a new outdoor play area after receiving a donation from a local housebuilder.
Staff are to use a £1,000 contribution from Bellway Essex towards the new play facility at St Andrew’s Junior School, where the school building was closed in September 2023 after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found in the structure.
Pupils were taught in a scout hut, a marquee and the wedding venue Hatfield Place, before they moved to temporary classrooms on the playground and playing fields at the school in Church Road.
Bellway Essex, which is building new homes at Hatfield Grove, off Bury Lane, and at Priory Grange, off Stone Path Drive, in Hatfield Peverel, made the donation after the school approached it for financial help.
The donation is to be used to decorate a storage container which will be used to house all the equipment for the outdoor play area. The money will also be used to buy plastic sleds and large plastic bins which will then be filled with a variety of items, such as clothing material, fabric, ropes, netting, tyres, wrapping paper, tin foil and packing tape.
Allison Dutaut, deputy headteacher at St Andrew’s Junior School, said: “We feel that perhaps the biggest impact felt by the children due to the ongoing situation at the school is that they have lost a lot of outdoor space. Thanks to the generosity of Bellway, we are now able to not only create a new play area but also have a storage unit in which to house the equipment we can now purchase.
“This new facility will give the pupils the opportunity to play, be creative and learn in a designated outside area. The wide range of materials and equipment will give the children the freedom to let their imaginations run riot.
“I can envisage a scenario where a child might pull, or try to pull, another child along in a plastic sled by using a length of rope. This simple exercise will teach them a lesson about force and friction while allowing them to socialise and have fun at the same time.”
This is the second time that Bellway Essex has stepped in to help the school. In 2022, a year before the RAAC situation, site staff and contractors from the housebuilder’s two developments in the village spent the summer holidays redeveloping another part of the grounds which is used as an outdoor classroom. image005.jpg
RAAC is a lightweight material that was used mostly in flat roofing, but also in floors and walls, between the 1950s and 1990s. It is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete but is less durable and has a lifespan of about 30 years. More than 200 schools in England have been found to have RAAC which needs removal.
At St Andrew’s Junior School, the school building is to be demolished and rebuilt. In the interim period, the pupils and staff will move out of a collection of smaller temporary classrooms into a larger temporary structure on the playing fields.
Emma Hawkins, Sales Manager at Bellway Essex, said: “We are proud of our ongoing and close relationship with St Andrew’s Junior School. It is a far from ideal situation where the staff and pupils have to use temporary classrooms and teaching spaces.
“When the school approached us for a donation to help buy some raffle prizes we thought that a sizeable contribution of £1,000 might somehow help in a wider context. It is great to see that our money will be used to create a new facility which will allow the children to play and learn together in a healthy outdoor space.”
Bellway is building 140 homes at Priory Grange, off Stone Path Drive, and 50 homes in the second phase of Hatfield Grove, off Bury Lane, with 145 homes already completed in the first phase of Hatfield Grove, off Station Road.
To find out more, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/essex/hatfield-grove or https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/essex/priory-grange. The sales teams can be contacted on 01245 962668 (Hatfield Grove) or 01245 962508 (Priory Grange).
