A "milestone moment" for a Magnificat school

A school that has served its community for over 170 years celebrated what has been described as a “milestone moment” during the official opening of a suite of new classrooms. 

Children in Ofsted Outstanding St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, set on Leamington Road in Broadway, had been learning in three “temporary” classrooms that were placed in the playground decades ago. Thanks to joint funding of nearly half a million pounds from Worcestershire County Council, the Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Our Lady of the Magnificat Multi Academy, lessons are now taking place in a state-of-the-art new building.

Miss Jackie Smith, the school’s Executive Headteacher, said: “This project means a huge amount to a huge number of people. 

“The development of these new classrooms has been talked about for years. The old mobile classrooms were, at best, looking very tired and were in urgent need of attention. Thanks to the efforts of so many people, our children now have a learning environment that matches their talents and aspirations.

“I can talk for ages about the impact that this new building will have. One our children, however, put it best when they simply said, “we are so lucky to have these new classrooms, it is like a fresh new start”.” 

During the official opening, Father Christopher Draycott blessed the new building and Maddie and Arthur, the oldest and youngest children at the school, were tasked with cutting the ribbon to declare their new classrooms open.

The school is part of the Our Lady of the Magnificat Multi-Academy, and has recently benefitted from a number of new initiatives to support the children and the school’s community.

Tom Leverage, who leads the Multi Academy, said: “This is a project where vision and passion have come together to create something special that will support the Catholic education of children for generations to come. 

“Pupils at the school are already feeling the benefits of learning in the impressive spaces that have been created. It is no exaggeration to say that this is truly a milestone moment for the St Mary’s and the school’s community.”