The re-opening of schools in September saw Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich moving into their brand new school building. To mark this, the Academy was visited by Dr Dan Poulter MP on Friday to see the new facilities and to see for himself how students and staff were meeting the challenges of being back in school.
During his visit Dr Poulter met with two Year 10 students to discuss how the new building was impacting on the learning. The feeling was very clear, the light, bright modern facilities are giving students a boost as they return from lockdown and they are very much enjoying being in their new surroundings. The students were also asked about their experiences of lockdown and how they had managed during the challenging past 6 months, to which the responses included setting routines which they had stuck to and plenty of communication with friends family and the staff at the academy.
Once students had left for the day, Dr Poulter toured the new building along with the Principal, Jamie Daniels. The new facilities, which include 7 science laboratories, art and technology workshops, activity hall and drama studio were completed on time after an 18 month building programme. The second phase of work to demolish and re-model the old buildings is underway and is due for completion by Easter 2021.
Speaking about the visit, Member of Parliament for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Dr Dan Poulter said “As a regular visitor to Ormiston Endeavour Academy, I was especially pleased to be invited to the school to see their fantastic new building, which was unveiled to students as they returned to school earlier this month. The building has made an incredible difference to the campus and I am confident that the bright and modern facilities will inspire the latest cohort of students to further develop and enjoy their learning.”
“As part of my visit, I was delighted to meet Principal, Mr Jamie Daniels and also with some of the Year 10 students, who are clearly pleased to be back in the school environment with their peers and teachers and I know they are looking forward to continuing with the important daily structure of their school timetable.”