Not many state schools can boast valuable sports facilities, but thanks to recent fundraising, The Greville Primary School has been able to build a brand new all-weather pitch. The school, located in Ashtead, Surrey, had some significant changes done over the summer of 2019. I was lucky enough to interview The Greville’s head teacher, Mr Depree and he gave some information about the process.
It took 6 weeks, Mr Depree informed me, and luckily it was not very disruptive for the students as it was built over the summer and ‘the premises manager was onsite all the time so they had a gate key, they came in, did the job and locked up’.
The fundraising took around 18 months- 2 years and was mostly made up of lots of little projects, including school fares and firework displays. A raffle was also held and as a school, people brought in their old clothes which were bundled up, sent away and the school were paid by the kilogram. The student, parent and teacher community had to work together in order to reach the final goal. In addition, The Greville was very fortunate in receiving a £63,000 grant from the department of education, which uses the money raised from the ‘sugar tax’ to help fund school projects that aim to increase the health and wellbeing of the school. According to Mr Depree, this made a ‘huge difference’ and therefore meant it could be completed quickly ‘without having to raise more money after the pitch had been built’.
The new all- weather pitch gives countless opportunities to the students. Mr Depree said that ‘It’s been taken up so enthusiastically by the children’, with football club, lessons every day and being open at lunchtime. ‘It’s a really nice surface to play a range of sports on, we can play netball on there, hockey, football, it really is valuable’.
Upon asking about future projects, I was told that the school is considering building a ‘small intervention room’. It would be used to store anything that the PTA can’t store in the shed like ice-creams to sell in the summer or uniform that needs to be kept dry. Furthermore, it would be useful for music lessons and maths and English interventions. ‘It’s a thought but it’s going to be expensive’.
Finally,I asked was ‘how do you feel that the Greville now has facilities to rival some of the local private schools’. Mr Depree emphasized how ‘proud’ he is, and spoke on how important it is that parents are encouraged to send their children to the school. He also gave the example of another project the school has invested in, tiered seating in the school. This elevates the children’s performances, allowing the parents to get a fantastic view of their child during a show or choir. Similarly, Mr Depree believes that the new all- weather pitch will ‘elevate the game you are playing’.
It’s wonderful to see a community pull together to achieve such a beneficial result; investing in our children’s future is always a worthwhile cause and the Greville parents, staff and children should be very proud.
Esme Lacey
