New chapter for school

Tuesday February 23, 2010

A school is celebrating an exciting new chapter after launching its newly-refurbished library.

Staff, pupils, parents and two local authors gathered at Wendell Park Primary on February 12 to open the new reading space, following four hectic months of building and decorating work.

Headteacher Sheila Mears, 56, said she hoped the brighter, more comfortable space would encourage children to read more.

"The sheer creativity, energy and hard work that has gone into this is fantastic," she said.

"We want the children to have beautiful things around them and this library reflects the high quality learning that we want to take place here.

"There are inspirational decorations and comfortable cushions they can sit on. We want it to be a place where they can relax with books and learn."

Popular children's authors Josh Lacey and Cressida Cowell helped cut the ribbon and said they were hugely impressed by the new site's modern decor and eyecatching woodland mural.

Josh , 41, who used to live in Stowe Road, Shepherds Bush, and writes the Grk and Misfitz Mysteries books under the name Joshua Doder, said: "It's fantastic and I like the fact it's so light - it makes you want to come in here and read.

"Books require a bit of concentration and input from the reader, and maybe children do need a bit of encouragement to do that."

Cressida, 44, who lives in Hammersmith and is author of the Hiccup the Viking series, added: "It's a lovely space and so imaginative. I just love the mural - it makes the room feel really big and you feel like you are going into the woods."

The library had been closed for about a year before the opening, having been used as a temporary classroom in the interim while the school's new children's centre was constructed.

The refurbishment project was funded by the main school budget under the guidance of parent governor Sophie Murphy, who designed the new layout and selected furniture, and school site manager Tony Bailey, who helped with construction work.

Sophie, 40, who has two children at the school, said: "The children are really excited because it's such a change from how it was. It's a really inspiring place now and it's calm.

We wanted it to still be childlike but be a lot more sophisticated so that it also suits the older children."

The school's fundraising association, Friends of Wendell Park, also contributed £3,000 to update the library's stock of books.

English subject leader and Year 2 teacher Elena Hough, 30, was in charge of choosing the new books, with the assistance of a core book list produced by the Centre for Literacy and Primary Education.

"We have 553 new books and probably have over 1,000 altogether," she said.