PARENTS have been so keen for their children to attend the newly built St Ninian’s Lower School that some have even moved house so they fall into its catchment zone.
Head teacher Andy Fox and deputy head Rob Cowley both agree that everyone that had been shown round ahead of its opening this week – including about 100 primary school pupils moving up to the school and staff – had been impressed by what’s on offer.
Mr Cowley said that while the Department of Education and Children came ‘under a lot of flak at times’, it should be given credit for ‘pushing the boat out’.
He described it as a ‘flagship school’ not just for the Isle of Man but across the UK.
In fact, he said a head teacher building a similar size school in Derbyshire, who visited last month, was ‘totally jealous’, at what had been achieved.
The visiting head had a budget of just £15m compared with the £33.8m spent at Bemahague, in Onchan.
With such good facilities on offer – especially in comparison with those available at St Ninian’s former lower school at Park Road – Mr Fox admitted that students might not want to leave at the end of year nine (ages 13 and 14) and move up to the upper school site in Ballaquayle Road.
While the lower school is designed to benefit the whole community – with the sporting facilities, dance/drama studio and arts and food technology rooms being leased to groups – Mr Fox said the upper school was a ‘different scenario’.
He said it would be ‘much more of an academic area for years 10 to 13 [ages 14 to 18].’
‘To some extent our challenge is to work to improve the opportunities there. There are some plans to improve that and bring that about.’
Plans being looked at include a new library and independent learning area for sixth form. Space has been created at the upper school site with year nine students moving from there to the lower school.
Mr Cowley said the first students had a big responsibility: ‘Park Road has been standing for 118 years.
‘It is their job to set the standard for the next 100 years because that’s how long this school will be around for.
‘They have to look after it. Setting that standard is really quite an important task for future students to follow.’
As well as community groups, primary schools, including Ashley Hill, Onchan and Cronk-y-Berry are expected to make use of the facilities.
We take a video tour of the new school, click here to see inside.
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