School sports and arts hit by new building

The Huthwaite pantomime which takes place at John Davies Primary School is at risk because the proposed new build school hall is not big enough to hold such events. Pictured is the 2013 panto cast.

In the letter addressed to Education Secretary Michael Gove, John Davies Primary and Nursery School headteacher Robert della-Spina states that he feels the school is ‘losing out’ by the plans for a new school building proposed by the Department for Education and Education Funding Agency.

This is because the new design will see the school’s large hall, gymnasium and outdoor sports barn reduced to one sports hall measuring just 150 square-metres.

This will affect the sporting opportunities the school can offer and mean that school productions will no longer be able to take place because parents and children will not fit into the smaller space.

“I accept the argument that a new school will be more efficient and better for the children, however we are getting a significantly reduced school in usable indoor PE space,” Mr della-Spina wrote.

“I realise that we will not get additional funding but I needed to make someone aware that a school with a proud sporting and performance arts history will no longer be able to provide these outcomes to the same degree.”

The new facilities are so much smaller due to a school building model based on the number of pupils a school has.

In order to make the hall usable by increasing its size by 30 square-metres, the school would have to find £50,000 from its budget.

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero said she has also written to Michael Gove, pressing him on this matter. She said: “Any new building has to work for the school and it’s pupils and staff.

“They love their PE and performing arts at John Davies and have a proud history, so I’d hate to see that change.”