School's Joy over play area

A VILLAGE school, threatened under Purbeck’s proposed education shake-up, has been lent a hand by one of its neighbours.

PARTNERSHIP: Pupils at St Georges School, Langton Matravers, celebrating their new play space on local Trust land.

The future of St George’s First School, Langton Matravers, is uncertain because of Dorset County Council’s plans to switch from a three-tier to a two-tier school system.

The lack of on-site play facilities at St George’s, which caters for 93 local children, had caused some reservations with county education chiefs about the school’s ability to transform into a new-format primary.

But the Cothill Educational Trust, which runs the neighbouring Old Malthouse School as a private specialist science course centre, has now allowed St George’s to use a swathe of their land for a multi-use games area.

St George’s School governor chairman Sarah Painter, said: “Dorset County Council had noted previously that the site could possibly be enhanced by the use of some Old Malthouse land next door, so we were delighted when the Cothill Educational Trust so generously proposed it themselves when they heard we were under threat. This means we tick all the right boxes – and more.”

Adrian Richardson, Principal of the Cothill Educational Trust, said: “The Trust firmly believes in partnership with local primary schools in all the areas where we run our schools. This ranges from sharing facilities and specialist services to – as we would like to do here – opening up land for play space. Our Trustees completely share my enthusiasm for supporting St George’s in whatever way we can.”

Final decisions in the three-tier to two-tier move will be taken by county educational chiefs next summer. Mrs Painter said:

“St George’s provides a first rate primary education for children in a rural setting. They thrive here and that’s why the school is so popular with parents.”

An article from the Bournemouth Echo written by Jim Durkin