Ash Lea School Opening 22 06 18 186
11th July 2018

Helping children to get the best of themselves

Ash Lea school in Cotgrave is a school for children with Special Educational Needs. Built in the 1970’s it needed some upgrades to bring it up to the standard needed by the changing needs of the pupils.

Despite meeting the condition survey criteria, the school were reliant on three double mobile classroom units which were not fully wheelchair accessible.

Staff, governors and parents began a fundraising campaign, supported by the local community, which raised a total of £180k. Nottinghamshire County Council provided an additional £3m, which meant the improvement work could go ahead.

Open weekend

The project has now been completed and celebrations began at the end of June, with an official opening ceremony attended by Councillor Sue Saddington, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council and Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, as well as governors, staff, pupils and representatives from the organisations involved in the work.

Councillor Saddington and Councillor Cutts thanked everyone involved, especially the Head Teacher, Dawn Wigley, the staff and governors who worked hard to raise money for the project.

The pupils all joined in with the Makaton choir as they sang and signed “This is Me” and “Thousand Years”, with guests signing along after being taught the chorus.

Ash Lea hero 1
The project

Arc Partnership designed and delivered the project, working with G F Tomlinson as the contractor on site. We delivered a new two-storey, five-classroom extension with a common room, staff room, therapy suite and three additional car parking spaces. Two mobile classrooms were also demolished.

As the team worked more closely with us, they understood the project wasn’t just about a building, but about what the space needed to do to enable the children to get the best out of themselves.
Dawn Wigley, Head Teacher

The hall has a new hoist and lighting system, so can be fully enjoyed by all the pupils, whilst the older part of the building has had a refurbishment in places, to bring it up to the standard of the new extension.

Although the work has now been completed, our association with the school isn’t over and we’re looking forward to supporting the staff and pupils in the future.

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