The History of the School

Clyst Heath Nursery and Community Primary School opened its doors for the first time in September 2005. This school, costing £2.4 million, was designed to accommodate 210 children in spacious classrooms, a large hall, a well equipped library area, a state of the art computer suite and excellent facilities for art, craft and design technology. 



The school was built on the grounds of Digby Hospital shown below in 1928

Our grounds are extensive and well planned, including a pond wildlife area which acts as a wonderful learning resource for the children. We have three distinct areas, the hard play area, quiet areas and a large school field.

The design of the building facilitates peer mixing and collaborative working by providing different types of spaces. The school has some mixed aged classes and a sense of community is promoted. The shared areas outside the classrooms support the delivery of more flexible approaches to teaching and learning and creativity across the curriculum. For example the corridor learning bays are an extension of the classroom and suited to a range of uses. This includes investigative and practical work, small group-work and quiet study. The practical areas provide spaces appropriate for 3D art and craft work.

 

Early Plans - 2004

Below are some early plans of the school site.

Late January 2005

May 2005

August 2005

Phase 2 - 2007

Moving in to Phase 2 of Our Building

In September 2007 we were delighted to take ownership of Phase Two of our building thanks to Andy Ward and his team at Interserve.



This was a very exciting time for staff and children alike as we had been looking forward to moving into our new accommodation for some time. This consists of a Nursery Foundation Unit, a classroom for Year One children and a classroom for Year Two children. We were also very excited about the prospect of a purpose built outdoor play area.


The school closed for three days and in that time staff moved five out of the six classes into new accommodation. It was hard work but very rewarding and we hope that you will agree with us that it was all worth it! Not only do we have excellent buildings and play areas but we also have some fantastic new furniture and equipment which can only enhance the quality of learning that goes on here at Clyst Heath.

The New Build 2012

We were really delighted to announce that two new classrooms (Phase 3) had been completed and that Acer Class had already settled into their new space.


The new build consists of two good sized classrooms complete with a large walk in storage cupboard each, two sets of toilets and two sets of cloakrooms. The space itself is large, bright and airy and extremely conducive to good learning.


In addition to the actual building, we gained a large hard playground space as well as an additional entrance to the new part of the school from the Clyst Heath end of Royal Crescent.


The two additional classrooms now link all four classrooms together. This accommodation means that that we have the capacity to manage a Planned Admission Number of 45 as the children filter up through the school.

Another New School Build - January 2013

What has seemed like a continual building programme at Clyst Heath Nursery and Community Primary School we have finally taken occupancy of our new and final phase of the school! The school has grown from the original four classrooms to twelve classrooms in the space of seven years. Following the original build we have seen a further three building programmes take place between 2005 and 2012!


In addition, the latest phase of building has also meant that we have acquired a new art room, a further office space and an increased playground space. By the end of the Autumn Term 2012 we expect to have two classes of children in residence with a further class to join them by September 2013. Whilst the size of the building has vastly increased to accommodate the larger numbers of children, we are delighted that the ethos that makes Clyst Heath so special remains strong.


You can discover that for yourself whenever you visit or explore the website for more information!

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