CAMPAIGN FOR NEW SCHOOL BUILDING 2011
HISTORY: Griffith Barracks Multi Denominational School has been in temporary accommodation on its present site since 1998. At one point we were approved to move to a new 16-class school building on the nearby John Player site, however this public-private partnership redevelopment project has been indefinitely stalled and we are stuck in our current, inadequate premises.
CURRENT POSITION:
- All nine classes at the school are housed in temporary (Portacabin) accommodation, in varying degrees of disrepair. This is a disgraceful long-term issue particularly in winter as pupils must walk straight out their classroom door into the elements. We have health and safety and air-quality issues with many of these structures.
- We have NO General Purpose Hall and are paying a lot of money to rent hours in a gym/bar area that is part of the National Stadium Complex. This again involves a walk through the elements and is totally unsuitable as a school facility.
- Our small library, Special Educational Needs rooms and admin offices are housed in an old Guardhouse Building, badly in need of renovation and completely unsuited in its current state for use as an educational establishment.
- The demand for Multi-Denominational Education in our Catchment area is growing exponentially and we have increasing numbers of school-age children on the way (a fact supported by the DES's own planning & statistics). We have huge waiting lists and although as a school we are ready to grow to 16 classrooms, we cannot do so without the provision of proper, built-for-purpose facilities.
- We have completed preliminary site studies and have determined that we can support an appropriate 16-class building with yard space and a GP hall on our Current site.
WHAT WE WANT:
- Recognition of the deplorable conditions in which our children are being educated
- A guarantee that we will be approved to move forward with a NEW BUILDING in 2011.
- To expand from our current 9-class to a 16-class school, in a new building on our current site, so that we can accommodate the huge and sustained demand for multi-denominational education in our local area.