This is a text-only version of an article first published on Tuesday, 21 May 2019. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
WORK on an innovative, modular eco-classroom as part of a plan to expand an 'outstanding' church school in Oxfordshire is well underway.
From left, Tom Fry, Building Surveyor for the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education, Darren Pace, David Waters, Kerry Cook, Sam King, headteacher, Terry Morris and some children at the start of the building work.
St Peter's Alvescot.
Terry Morris recently joined the children to dig the first foundations of the new classroom.
Terry attended the school as a young boy, as did his father, son and grandson.
St Peter's CE Infant School in Alvescot only caters for children aged four to seven.
Under the expansion plans, St Peter's will become a full primary school, with pupils staying until they are 11 and ready to move up to secondary education.
The school currently has 58 pupils from Alvescot and the surrounding villages and towns. As an infant school, in the past children have had to leave St Peter's when they are seven and have transferred to many different schools.
This means that after three years in school, pupils "may be split from key friends, and the support and security that they provide, as they move on to their new school," the report states.
This can also mean that two siblings can end up at different schools, making life complicated for families. The school, which has been ranked as 'outstanding' by OFSTED for the last decade, will be transformed into a full primary school, with four classes over the next four years.
The school's admission number will rise from 75 to 105 in the plans, which will be funded by the school and the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST)The report added: "Admission numbers over the past 10 years demonstrate the school's ongoing appeal to local families who value the school's ethos, their commitment to the individual child and the importance placed on developing a love of learning. "Sam King, headteacher, said: "This is a very exciting time for St Peter's as we prepare to become a primary school.
We are delighted that the building work has begun on our new classroom and that we will be able to provide our children with the opportunity to remain at St Peter's for all their primary years. "