Jubilee extension for William Morris Primary School

Children and colleagues at William Morris Primary School have been celebrating the official opening of their new building.

The opening ceremony at William Morris Primary School marked the end of a major building project funded by Oxfordshire County Council to meet the growing demand for school places in the local area.

The school joined GLF Schools in 2015, when it was judged to be inadequate by Ofsted. Both the reception and nursery classes were housed in two temporary facilities.

The school was rated as Outstanding by Ofsted in 2018 and GLF invested in redeveloping a new outdoor play area for nursery and reception while starting discussions with the county council regarding the expansion of the school to accommodate an increasing number of pupils.

GLF worked closely with Oxfordshire County Council to develop the four-phase project which completed earlier this month, leaving the school with eight modern classrooms and a more usable building along with safer external play areas.

Initially work was carried out to house Years 4, 5 and 6 in the temporary block in 2020 and the second phase saw reconfiguration of the internal layout to open up 3 classrooms to create more suitable teaching spaces. There was also extensive refurbishment of all classrooms and that phase of work was completed by the summer of 2021.

Phase three saw the arrival of a new extension block, now named the Jubilee Extension, which includes three classrooms, a group room, staff room and toilets. It was completed in May and is now in full use, providing modern, energy-efficient teaching spaces.

The final phase sees the demolition of the old temporary classroom block and the creation of a new playground and games court for the pupils to enjoy.

“Following the end of these works, we now have eight modern classrooms enabling high quality teaching and learning, and a more usable building that supports the wellbeing of staff and children,” said Head of School Alastair Johns.

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Youth Services, said: “Our commitment is to give every child the very best start in life by investing in top of the class learning and teaching environments. It is always rewarding to see new buildings opened, and I’m sure both pupils and staff will thrive in these new and modern classrooms.”