Late start for pupils who 'borrowed' class rooms from Mosaic School
The council has announced that Oasis Academy Putney will unveil its brand new school building on Putney Common for the first time on Monday following the half term break.
Since the start of term, the school’s initial intake of 36 pupils have been taught in spare classrooms at the recently opened Mosaic Jewish School in Roehampton, after delays at the Putney site.
The plant area on the roof top playground
But the building work is now complete and the children can move in to their bright, new, modern and attractive classrooms.
The new school has been built on the site of the former Putney Hospital site which closed in 1998. Over the course of the next few years, the council predicts that pupil numbers will grow up and it will eventually cater for up to 420 children.
Oasis will help meet the rising demand for school places in this part of Putney. This is due partly to the increased birth rate but also because of the growing popularity of Wandsworth's schools.
The proportion of the borough’s primary schools judged to be either good or outstanding by education standards watchdog Ofsted now stands at 92 per cent – one of the best performance records in the country.
Wandsworth’s cabinet member for education Cllr Kathy Tracey said, “I am delighted this new school is now ready to open its gates and admit its first pupils into its brand new building, which boasts some really excellent teaching and learning facilities
“We had of course hoped it would be ready to open in September but sadly as is sometimes the case, the project ran slightly over schedule and this meant the school wasn’t quite ready to open on time. This was disappointing of course and for that we are very sorry, but I’m pleased to say that most of the parents understood and took the whole thing in their stride because they could see that the building work was nearly at an end and they could see just how good their new school is going to be.
“Fortunately we had some spare capacity at another brand new primary school which opened last year in Roehampton and to make life easier for parents and the children we arranged for transport to and from their temporary home every day for the first half term.
“I am sure that the children, their parents and of course all the teaching staff are really excited about moving into their new home and that Oasis will now go from strength to strength and deliver a great education for children in this part of Putney for many, many years to come.”
The school’s executive principal Di Morgan said, “Our young pupils at Oasis Academy Putney have made a great start to their school lives, happily settling in to the regular rhythm of the school day, forging new friendships with their fellow pupils and making great progress.
“We are very grateful to the Mosaic Jewish School for hosting us while the finishing touches were put on the new Academy, and thankful to our children and their parents for their patience.”
Fraser Wells, managing director of Durkan commented, “As developer and contractor at Putney Common, we have worked very closely with our partners at the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Oasis Academy to secure the opening of the school after half term. This has been an exciting project to be part of and we look forward to seeing the pupils enjoying the facilities over the coming weeks, months and years.”
October 28, 2016