Spring 2010 NEW DINING HALL FOR STARTERS!
2 Headmaster s Joy Since our first edition of Development Update we have made significant progress on building work around both the Senior School and the Preparatory School. The Preparatory School Hall and Gym is now nearing completion, the Sixth Form Centre refurbishment is too and the Dining Hall phase is complete. It has been fantastic seeing our plans turn into reality, as well as witnessing the excitement of our pupils when they saw the finished developments for the first time. The grand opening of the dining hall and kitchen was a momentous occasion with Paul Rankin opening the new facilities. We have worked extremely hard and waited for a long time to be able to make our vision for very high quality, modern facilities a reality. Thank you to all of the school community who were able to join us to celebrate. I hope that those of you who were unable to attend will come to one of our many events planned this year, so you too can experience first hand our outstanding facilities. David M Dunn Headmaster Chair of Governors, Dr Alison Bonavia (right) together with Paul Rankin (centre) and David Dunn (left) Grand Opening Paul Rankin, celebrity chef, joined Yarm School for the day as part of the grand opening of the wonderful dining hall and new kitchen. Children from the Preparatory School came across to the new dining hall in the morning for a series of lessons from Paul in making healthy fruit smoothies, as well as learning about unusual fruits. Great Fun! Paul kindly cut the ribbon officially announcing the new facilities open, to the delight of the Headmaster; I am thrilled that our pupils will be lunching in a first class dining hall and our chef Martin has a top quality kitchen to enable him to produce the finest school meals. Paul Rankin described the new facility as the best he had seen. The Senior School and Sixth Form pupils also had smoothie making lessons over lunch The dining hall is spectacular and the food is amazing Liam Hill (Second Year).
3 The new layout is much better, it is really modern Alexandra Metcalfe (Fourth Year) Later that day hundreds of people packed into the new hall for a very special version of the popular TV programme Ready, Steady, Cook, which saw Headmaster David Dunn and Deputy Headmaster David Woodward leading opposing teams. After some very amusing and surprising culinary moments Team Red Tomatoes, were victorious! The winning team included School Chef Martin, Sean Eccles, Abbi Horrocks and was led by Mr Woodward. Their menu consisted of: tossed lamb s liver and bacon salad starter followed by pan-fried salmon on a bed of winter vegetables with a white wine and chive sauce, followed by Mascarpone and chocolate cheesecake with raspberry coulee to finish.
4 Fitness Suite The new fitness suite is a fantastic addition to the school s sport facilities and will be used for older pupils to work on building their strength and stamina. The fitness suite is now on two floors with a spectacular picture window overlooking the river. Mr Guest, Director of Sport, said It is incredible that we are now able to offer pupils a first class fitness suite and it is a great motivation to our budding 2012 athletes. The YSA has kindly donated money towards some additional new equipment. Mathematics classrooms As part of dining hall development the mezzanine floor provides three modern and spacious mathematics classrooms. These purpose built classrooms have interactive whiteboards to enhance the learning environment for pupils. There is also a brand new computer suite equipped with the latest computers, to be used by all subjects areas. Air conditioning and bespoke furniture create a comfortable working atmosphere. Sixth Form Centre The Sixth Form Centre has also benefitted from the addition of a mezzanine floor that will provide accommodation for two upstairs classrooms and a departmental office. The common Next Stages The development project at the Senior School has one exciting final phase left, the riverside complex. The performing arts will take centre stage with a 750 seat auditorium, dance studio and music suite as well as a new classroom block. All will enjoy beautiful river views. There will be a classroom for PE and new sports changing rooms too. room is being refurbished to give a warmer and brighter feel. There will also be internet cafe style computer access for the Sixth Formers to use for research and emails.
5 Development at the Early School and Preparatory School Work at the Preparatory School is now well underway with the new school hall almost complete. The new, modern hall will accommodate physical education, games and performing arts productions. We look forward to welcoming you into the new hall soon! The current Prep playing fields will be converted into a fantastic all weather playing surface and a nature trail. The multi-purpose pitch will be used for playtimes, activities, extracurricular clubs, games lessons, PE and fixtures, with the nature trail being used for lessons and playtimes. Both will be superb and will enhance the curriculum. The next phase will be the construction of a wonderful new Early School next to the existing Nursery. An external play area will be landscaped as part of the new site which is an integral part of the Foundation Stage. The main building in the Preparatory School will benefit from a face lift with a new reception, offices, staircase and a lift. Follow the development of the School Hall in the Phoenix Flier
6 Website Relaunch Yarm School is looking forward to launching our new website. The new website has an updated look and feel, as well as being more user-friendly with up to date news and stories. The website is structured in five sections: General Information, Nursery & Prep, Senior, Sixth Form and Yarm at Raventhorpe. All website content will be updated on a regular basis with news stories, sports fixtures and pictures, so please log on to see what has been happening at the school. Please let us know your feedback at LJH@yarmschool.org. By Neville Tate a great story......this well-crafted tale Neville Tate, the school s founding headmaster...is ideally placed to provide one of the most remarkable developments in recent British educational history. Darlington & Stockton Times First print run now sold out! Order your copy now from the School Office. Telephone: 01642 786023 Email: admin@yarmschool.org Priced 9.95 Neville Tate
7 Going for Gold After many years working to secure planning permission for the development and the hard work and determination that have gone into this project, we want to provide first class facilities in every way to a gold standard. The finishing touches, as you know, make all the difference to any move. At Yarm School we are going for gold to give our pupils the best. For all our new buildings we wish to ensure that the fittings and equipment are of the highest quality. For example, in the Dining Hall we have provided brand new tables and chairs (no more benches!) and new interactive whiteboards and classroom furniture in the mathematics classrooms. We would like to do the same for all the new accommodation. To enable Yarm School to achieve the gold standard we propose holding a variety of entertaining events for school families and the local community to raise funds. To organise these events we will be setting up a Going for Gold appeal committee. The committee will take charge of planning, organising and publicising a range of innovative events aimed at raising money. They will also be exploring sponsorship opportunities. The committee would love to hear from anyone who is keen to get involved and offer their support for future events. Please contact Lynsey Hannah at LJH@yarmschool.org. Demolition Derby Now we have our fantastic new dining hall, the old dining hall and mathematics block needs to be demolished to make way for the exciting riverside development. Lots of people have expressed a desire to help with the demolition, not least the Chef and Head of Maths! To get the chance to help demolish the old dining hall and make history, enter our Demolition Derby competition. Tickets are priced only 2 each. To get your tickets please ask a Yarm School parent or ring the School Office. The date of the demolition and identity of the lucky winner will be announced soon.
Yarm Preparatory School Grammar School Lane Yarm TS15 9ES Email: prepschool@yarmschool.org Telephone: 01642 781447 Yarm School The Friarage Yarm TS15 9EJ Email: admin@yarmschool.org Telephone: 01642 786023 Yarm at Raventhorpe 96 Carmel Road North Darlington DL3 8JB Email: yar@yarmschool.org Telephone: 01325 463373