Pupils at Elmlea Junior School in Westbury-on-Trym have a brand new library – and its exciting design and state of the art equipment are thanks to the generosity of a parent. Richard Blunden is Managing Director of Bristol business Moduflex.
He put his company’s resources at the school’s disposal, enabling Head Teacher Clare Galliers and her team to go beyond what they could have imagined.
The result of this joint approach was revealed today (Feb 26) at an opening ceremony featuring The Etherington Brothers, creators of comic adventures which delight readers and cinema audiences worldwide. “There has been a strong sense of adventure for us in the way this project has developed over the last few months,” said Clare. “Now we can share it with the whole school community.”
Elmlea Junior School, which was judged Outstanding at its most recent Ofsted Inspection last year, has 360 pupils from Year 3 to Year 6. Richard Blunden explained how he and his Moduflex colleagues approached the project. “Our design team thought very carefully about how to make the library attractive and engaging for children,” said Richard.
Clare Galliers paid tribute to the many parents who volunteered for months of work behind the scenes in sorting and categorising more than 6,000 books at Elmlea. “For a school with such a strong reading culture the new library will be an opportunity for children to learn how to use a library, Clare said. “Prior to this, books were stored in classrooms, corridors and cupboards. “Everyone had access to books, and our last Ofsted report commented in particular on the high quality of the teaching of reading which we have achieved at Elmlea.”
"It was a pleasure to be able to give something back to this excellent school which my children have benefited from attending, both academically and socially. I hope that the library enhances the experience of current and future pupils in the way it was intended." Richard Blunden MD Moduflex.
