Prep School Developments

Work has just been completed at the Prep School in Great Chart to develop 18 new classrooms, a reception area with a cafe for parents, new car parks to ease traffic through Great Chart, a fantastic new hall and modern dining facilities to further enhance the educational experience of our pupils.

Pupils from 3-11 are now all on one site and the new facilities is enabling Ashford School to reach the target of becoming one of the leading independent schools in the UK.

The video below is a timelapse of photographs taken by the webcam of the development work from Oct 08 to Oct 09. See below for further information on what has been happening on the site.

(Music performed by the Vardanyan Quartet at the Ashford School festival 'Haydnfest 2009')

SITE UPDATE

October 2009 - Pre-Prep Move

This half term has seen the move of the 3-7 year olds to the new and improved school in Great Chart.
With a few last items to be crossed off the list including the new hall and entrance foyer, the building chaos is almost at an end and all pupils from 3-11 are enjoying being the first to use the 18 new classrooms and the fun new technological additions they come with.

The new classrooms feature under-floor heating, light tubes, solar panels, and there are plans to introduce wind turbines to make the school as fuel efficient as possible. In an interview with the Kentish Express team the Head of the Prep School, Richard Yeates said:

“The main reason we’re doing this work is to bring the two parts of the school back together. Up until recently we had the 3 - 7 year olds up at Ashford but this site is lovely with its rural setting.
Light tubes allow natural light to pour into corridors while lights are activated by people walking into a room. We have our 7-11 years olds here already so we wanted them all to be together. It’s easier for the staff and some families have siblings together in the school so that helps as well.
We wanted a strong prep school because we feed the senior school and I think bringing them back together we can offer that. The children are very excited, they clearly love it. Some have said it’s nice to have the younger children back but they are excited about the design of the building which has bold colours and shapes.”

The remaining building work is expected to be completed over Christmas and the full site will be in use from early 2010.  

June 2009 - Developments update

• Mains and electrical installation is continuing across the site with Underfloor heating and screeding to the first floor underway at present.
• Plasterboarding to the ground floor has been largely completed and some rooms have now received their skim coat and some mist coating is also taking place.
• First fix carpentry has commenced to the ground floor and external cladding to the clerestory window walls is now nearing completion.
• Ground works to the front area (road works) continues with top soil now put on the leveled ground adjacent the car park. The land drains to the field above the swimming pool are also being installed.
• Shaping the top field and completing the battering to the rear of the new buildings has commenced.
• Roof tiling continues to progress well the vertical tile hanging has now finished to the main gable end.
• Timber boarding to the north elevation has commenced.

April 2009 - Building Blocks for the Future.

Whilst the community of Ashford were enjoying their much deserved Easter holidays, the ever diligent workers from Baxall Construction have been making the most of the quiet site to further the extensive development project at Ashford Friars Prep School and gain those extra few steps closer to moving the Pre-Prep School later this year.

• All the brick and block walling to the first phase (ie all but the entrance area and auditorium) is now complete - see the photographs and webcam for the latest work.
• Roof works are progressing well and should be finished imminently depending on how long the weather holds.
• Underfloor heating is currently being laid and the windows are being installed ready to make the building watertight.
• The mechanical and electrical fit out to the kitchen and all classrooms has been on going for the past few weeks with new drainage now installed to deal with the run-off from the new building as well as helping to sort out a lot of the existing drainage problems at the school.
• Openings have been formed in the walls of Lendrum Hall to provide access through to the new servery and kitchen.

With work progressing so quickly, every week shows new signs of the fantastic facilities and benefits for all the pupils and staff at Ashford.

The PTA are busily organising fundraising events and activities to help towards the cost of providing top quality play equipment and the proposed woodland trail and if you would like further information on how to help raise funds or to provide input on what else you would like to see the pupils benefitting from, contact us today on ashfordfriars@ashfordschool.co.uk.

March 2009 - Car Park Now Open for Use!

If you haven’t already seen or heard the fantastic news, the new car park has now officially been opened and has put an end to the chaotic queuing on the road through Great Chart at rush hour for local residents and members of the school!

Although still rather muddy due to the construction traffic rolling around the site, it is now possible to park on site or drop off your children and walk to reception without having to weave through traffic or wade across the grass and this will become quicker and easier as fencing is removed and landscaping is completed over the next 6 months.

Those of you who have been lucky enough to use the newly painted tarmac will probably have noticed the rather large mound of earth and topsoil piled to the side of what was the old cricket pitch, but rest assured that it will be put back alongside the developments to provide a good sized field to use after the main build is completed.

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Permission has been granted to allow the development of nearly 25 acres of land to the West of the school buildings at Great Chart to be used as playing fields. These new facilities will be brought gradually into use as demand requires.

Both of these developments we will constitute a major step towards our goal of being one of the leading independent schools for boys and girls aged 3 months to 18 years in the UK.

Key Development Plans:

• New Nursery and Pre-Prep building and classrooms on the Ashford Friars Prep School site in Great Chart
• Excellent all-on-one site for pupils aged 3 to 11 years
• Extensive car-parking and access facilities
• 12 new classrooms for Nursery and Pre-Prep pupils aged 3 to 7 years
• 6 new classrooms for Prep pupils aged 7 to 11 years
• New reading room
• Large play area at the rear of the school with central courtyard
• Large new entrance and reception area with new office facilities
• New school hall
• New kitchens and dining facilities

The file below shows a rolling presentation of artist impression pictures of what the new site looks like, including exterior shots, the main reception and hall and one of the new classrooms. Of course - the best way to see the school in all its glory is to contact us today for a personal tour and meet with the head and pupils.

Click play on the video below to see the virtual tour of the reception and hall of the new buildings.

To see drawings byt the architect of the development plans, click on the links below:

Site Plan

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Elevations