Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Kensington, has been named as a finalist in a national competition to win an £80,000 classroom.
It was selected from nearly 400 schools that entered the competition in the leading education magazine TES. It will now battle it out against five other shortlisted schools in a public vote to win a bespoke Clearspace Education classroom.
A panel of five judges selected the six shortlisted schools. The panel included Olympian Rob Hayles; Lord Jim Knight, Shadow Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister in the Lords and consultant on education, technology and welfare; Gail Larkin, National Association of Head Teachers Vice-President; TES Editor and Digital Publishing Director Ann Mroz; and Managing Director of Clearspace Construction Scott Horner.
The competition was open to all primary and secondary schools in the UK. To enter, schools simply had to explain, in no more than 300 words, why they deserved to win a new learning space.
The judges were impressed with Sacred Heart’s plan to turn the permanent modular building into a ‘love to talk’ classroom to encourage speaking and listening throughout the school, particularly in aid of the many students that speak little or no English. As well as providing much-needed classroom space, it will also benefit the local community by providing a drop-in centre for parents at the school and enable the school to lead ‘baby and toddler’ sessions.
Charles Daniels, Head teacher , said: “We are stunned to have been shortlisted and if we are successful, it will make a real difference to our school community for generations to come. Please vote.”
The eventual winner of the £80,000 building will now be decided by a public vote. Voting opens online on 13 March 2014, at http://www.tesconnect.com/building and closes on 27 April . The winner will be announced on Thursday 8 May .
Ann Mroz, Editor and Digital Publishing Director of TES, said: “We had an extremely strong field of entries this year, each with a compelling story to tell and an impassioned plea for additional learning space. The judges were unanimous in the decision to shortlist Sacred Heart Catholic Primary. Their entry really stood out.”
This is the second year Clearspace Education has given away a building with TES. With the increasing problem of limited ground space on which to build, this year the winner can choose from either a standalone building or an £80,000 contribution to a rooftop extension on top of their existing school.
As well as construction of the standalone modern timber classroom, Clearspace Buildings will undertake all necessary planning and building permissions, groundwork and construction and internal finishing, including flooring, lighting and power points.
The five other finalist schools are: Kings College in Guildford, Netherhall School in Cumbria, Myrddin Special Unit in Carmarthenshire, The Ryes College in Essex and Ferndale Community School in Rhonnda Cynon Taf.
Clearspace Education is a brand of Clearspace Construction and is fast becoming the first choice for creating permanent, stylish additional learning space cost effectively and quickly. Its range of modular school buildings are unparalleled. Its buildings are bespoke and can be placed virtually anywhere, including inaccessible, enclosed spaces or on top of existing structures.
For more information about the competition visit www.clearspaceeducation.co.uk or www.tesconnect.com/building.
Pictured: One of the £80,000 Clearspace classrooms.
