5:47pm Tuesday 7th September 2010
By Michael Pickard
The Bishop of St Albans today gave his blessing to some new classrooms in Chipperfield following a school redevelopment costing more than £500,000.
The Right Reverend Dr Alan Smith visited St Paul's Church of England School, in The Common, where he led a prayer of dedication before unveiling a plaque in the new block of junior classrooms.
Engraved in the plaque was the school's motto: Love to learn, learn to love.
The original school building, which has a circular design, was built in 1973 and was extended later that decade with two temporary wooden-framed classrooms.
Thirty years later, a new red-brick building costing £550,000 has now replaced those temporary classrooms.
Building work began in spring last year and was completed in time for the new term last September. However, due to other building work across the school, the official opening was delayed until today.
The Bishop said: “It's a wonderful example of collaboration between the local community, the school and church. As a church school, we want to have the best school we can and this is a good example of this.
“The school is particularly impressive, looking at the teaching. It's great we've been able to improve facilities for the next few years.”
When Norah Tattersall, headteacher of St Paul's for four-and-a-half years, joined the school, the project was struggling to get off the ground without planning permission or funding.
She said: “I managed to get in my second year both planning permission and funding. We have been really fortunate. In addition we got Sure Start funding to have children's centre here. And as part of that, we got funding to redevelop the school offices and staff room. Quite a lot of the school has been refurbished.
“We're incredibly fortunate to have a school in a really good state of repair. We're delighted. It's made such a big difference to the children's learning.”
The majority of funding for the redevelopment was provided by Hertfordshire County Council, with school governors and the Diocese of St Albans charged with finding ten per cent of the costs.
Stephen Morrill, the chairman of governors, added: “I've been involved with the school for more than 20 years and I've seen it grow. We've always tries to go for solid, reliable buildings in a traditional style so we have pushed for quality at every stage.
“It makes the teaching conditions much better for the staff; every room has now got storage room for teaching materials and separate teaching areas for small groups.
“It's a triumph of faith in the school from the village and the county council.”
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