Dear Parents
NURSERY SCHOOL UPDATE – PLAN C
As you know there has been a great deal of unhappiness amongst our current Grade 2 and 3 parents following our ‘Plan B’ proposal which was presented to you two weeks ago today. This was because it involved these children spending blocked class teaching time at a venue on the campus of Beaulieu College. The Board has engaged directly with representatives of the Grade 2 and 3 parents in order to find a viable alternative to the 2 km daily bus trip to the College that this plan required.
We considered several new suggestions which were put forward by parents and revisited options which had previously been discounted.
We also engaged with representatives of the 2013 Nursery School parents to hear their concerns and to see if these could be addressed.
In the newly revised plan (Plan C) the 2013 Grade 0 children will be accommodated in the existing Grade 0 block at Beaulieu Prep and the third classroom will be in the large art room as was previously envisaged in Plan B.
The 2013 Grade 3 and 4 children will continue to be housed on the premises at Beaulieu Prep – as has been the case in the past.
The Grade 00 and 000 children will have a new facility prepared especially for them in a self-contained and separate venue on the Beaulieu College campus in Maple Road – 2 km from the Prep. School. Because they shall use existing buildings, the timeframe, although tight, is sufficient for us to make the venue specific to the needs of this particular group of children.
Mrs. Meikle, Headmistress of Beaulieu College, believes there will be no impact for the high school pupils. She says, “In order to accommodate the pre-primary classes at Beaulieu College a number of teachers will move classrooms at the end of 2012. We are fortunate to have 5 empty classrooms in our existing facilities. The most suitable area for the location of the pre-primary classes is the current Art and Music block. This block is physically removed from the main classroom blocks and located away from the main foot traffic, teaching blocks, playgrounds and sports fields of the College.
The Visual Art classrooms will be relocated back to the ground floor of the A block, where they were originally situated prior to the addition of the Art and Music block. The facilities are fully equipped in terms of meeting the needs of the Art Department; the rooms are plumbed and there is sufficient space for both the Arts and the Arts and Culture programmes to run in the venue. The music room will be relocated to empty classrooms upstairs in C block, above the drama room. The peripatetic music rooms will also be relocated into this block and afternoon classes with the various instrument teachers will continue as normal.
There will be no impact on the educational offering at the College as a result of housing our Gr 00 and 000 pupils on our premises. I am also confident that the area that has been made available is easy to secure and convert into a lovely facility for the pre-primary school and that, despite the proximity, there will be no contact between our high school and pre primary pupils while they are accommodated here.”
We know that this has been a most difficult and uncertain time for parents, as it has been for us, and we apologise for the anxiety it has caused you.
We remain committed to opening our Nursery School in January 2013, as promised. However, we will completely understand if parents of Nursery School children choose not to send their children to us in 2013 given the change in circumstances. These parents will be immediately refunded the money they have paid to the school. We will also happily give these children preferential entry at a later date, SHOULD THE NEW FACILITIES COME ON STREAM in time.
As we promised, the Board, Mrs Bain (Nursery School Head) and I will be available to parents tonight from 6 pm in the school hall to discuss Plan C with you, and to answer any questions you may have.
We trust that we have at last found a workable solution which will be acceptable to all our parents.
We look forward to seeing you this evening.
Warm regards
MRS N. HILLEN
HEADMISTRESS
