At the 2009 AGM the PTA Committee announced that a”Big Project”had been identified on which to focus our fundraising efforts. After consultation with Mrs Wagstaff, Mrs Peters, Mrs Talley and the rest of the staff, a real need for extra teaching space had been identified.
The main school building was erected 77 years ago and although a separate pre-fabricated building was erected in the 1960s to house the Little School pupils, the number of pupils had long since outgrown the space available to teach an ever-changing curriculum. Often pupils were taken out of classes in small groups for individual teaching sessions, and there was no suitable room for them to occupy.
It was felt that one of the reasons that people choose to send their children to the School, is the level of individual attention afforded to all pupils. Small group sessions are a regular feature across all subjects and age groups. Additional teaching space would greatly enhance the ability of the School to continue to provide this in an appropriate environment.
After considering ways to meet this need within the existing buildings, which it was concluded was not possible, it was decided that the only viable option was to build an external classroom.
Along the way, we consulted, took on site tours around the School grounds, and had frequent correspondence with:
- An independent planning consultant
- A number of companies supplying a variety of suitable buildings
- The School’s Arboriculturalist
- Bromley Council’s Chief Tree Officer
- A representative from Bromley Council’s Urban Open Space Department
- Two local councillors.
What we discovered along the way was that we had two major challenges:
- The whole School property is subject to a Tree Preservation Order. This means we need permission from the Council if we intend to fell any trees or remove any branches. In order to build the classroom, a number of self-seeded saplings needed to be removed and certain overhanging branches needed to be trimmed.
- Also, the whole School property is designated Urban Open Space. This means we cannot build on it unless we can show, to the Planning Department’s satisfaction, that the benefits of any proposal outweigh any loss of open space.
The classroom we planned to build was an 8m x 6m twin-skinned, fully insulated timber building with a 1.5m x 8m veranda, 5 double glazed windows and a double glazed double door opening onto the veranda.
The site of the classroom was chosen, after consultation with the School’s neighbours, so as to be equally accessible from Justin Hall and Little School. It was felt that because of the nature of the structure it would have minimal environmental impact and would fit in well with the surrounding trees.
We felt it important to investigate suggestions made by a number of parents regarding the nature, size and facilities of the building. All suggestions were presented to Mrs Wagstaff, Mrs Peters and Mrs Talley, since we felt very strongly that the final decision on the choice, size and use of the new classroom must be theirs.
Although most of the preparatory work was carried out by members of the PTA Committee, after much discussion it was felt that we needed an expert to pull all the information together and produce detailed drawings to support our complicated planning application. The school engaged an experienced local Chartered Surveyor who was prepared to put the finishing touches to our application. The surveyor submitted the planning application in September 2010 and the associated Building Control Application in October 2010.
The application was referred to a Planning Committee in October 2010 where it was turned down on grounds that the addition of a classroom totalling just under 70 sq.m would constitute overdevelopment of the school site and that removal of nine self-seeded saplings would constitute an unjustified loss of trees. Following this very disappointing outcome, we received some encouraging input from Councillor Bennett, a local councillor who was very sympathetic to our position.
He visited the school, viewed the proposed site, the school grounds and buildings, and believed that we had a strong case if we resubmitted our application in a slightly amended form. He also offered to speak on our behalf at the Planning Committee meeting.
Our revised application – which was essentially unaltered except that we offered to plant new trees to compensate for the nine we needed to remove – was filed on Monday 8 November. The revised application was heard by the Planning Committee on 20 January 2011 and, following representations from Councillor Bennett and the PTA Committee, the application received unanimous approval.
With permission granted it was “full steam ahead”. The suppliers of the timber building were contacted and the order placed for delivery and construction during the Easter holidays. Over a weekend in February, a team of enthusiastic parents, staff and friends cleared the site of trees, old logs, brambles, weeds and ivy in readiness for the delivery of the timber building. During the Easter holidays, the Cabin was built and in the first week of the Summer Term another team of parents and staff donned painting overalls to paint the inside of the building. The beautiful “Tree of Hands” was created using the handprints of all the children and displayed in the Cabin for all to admire. Landscaping and planting was carried out by parents over the next few weeks and the Cabin was officially opened on 17 June 2011 by Councillor Bennett.
The Cabin has added to the life of the school in so many ways. Despite the many hurdles and set backs, this was a “Big Project” that was certainly worth undertaking and one that the PTA (which means all the parents, children and staff of St David’s College) should feel very proud to have been involved in.
