You might think that, with no pupils or teachers in school, the summer holidays at BGS would be a haven of peace and quiet, but you’d be very wrong. Every year the long summer break provides an opportunity for major work to be undertaken around the school site, and this summer has been no exception.
The work is carefully planned by our Facilities Manager, Ben Tavener, to make sure everything is ready for the first day of term. Alongside routine work, such as redecoration and repairs, this summer has seen three big projects taking place, creating new teaching space, revamping outdoor areas and improving energy efficiency. With a tight timetable – made tighter by this year’s ‘summer’ weather – the school site has been a hive of activity throughout the summer break.
In the Winterstoke Wing, home to our Science department, a large office space has been converted to provide a new multi-use lab for teaching IB Biology and Chemistry. Classroom furniture can easily be moved to offer layouts for group teaching or individual work, maximising flexibility and, alongside the projector and whiteboard, there is also a write-on wall – a feature that has proved immensely popular with our students in other science labs.
The new lab has been cleverly designed to meet the differing requirements of both chemists and biologists: the multiple sinks needed for Chemistry experiments can be covered to provide a continuous worksurface; and for the Biologists, the lighting and window blinds allow users to control light levels for microscopy. In keeping with all refurbishment work carried out at BGS, improving energy efficiency has been a key consideration; the new lighting is provided by LED sky panels and the old wall-mounted radiator has been replaced by thermally efficient radiant heating panels.
The Library has also undergone refurbishment, inside and out. On the outside, the roof – some 400 square metres – has been recovered with high performance thermally insulated felt. The new roof system for the Library installation now gives us a thermal conductivity rating of 0.024 for that building, which means almost zero percentage heat loss and vastly improved energy efficiency. Inside, a new suspended ceiling houses more energy efficient LED lighting and the air vents have been repositioned to improve air circulation. Visitors to the Library may not spot those differences, but they will certainly notice the much more welcoming and open entrance space, with its relocated Librarians’ desk. This is phase one of an internal refurbishment, with new carpets arriving for the rest of the Library space in October half-term.
The change that is sure to generate the most excitement is the upgraded Infant School play space. The outdoor spaces around the Infant School have been completely refurbished, with a brand new astroturf play surface and a wonderful new outdoor classroom, which will allow the children to play and learn outdoors whatever the weather.
In the front garden, a planter has been created so classes will be able to watch the seeds and bulbs they plant grow, while the back garden houses a dedicated area for mud kitchens and water play. Exciting new modular play equipment, designed to encourage pupils’ independence and develop their motor skills, will sit alongside old favourites, such as the story reading chair, which have been retained. New fences and a wonderful sunshine yellow coat of paint on the Infant School building complete the new space, which the children will love playing in.
These projects are part of an ongoing program of planned works around the site, designed to improve and maintain our school’s impressive facilities. As a result, whether it’s major refurbishments or minor improvements, the holidays are never quiet at BGS!
