Having no school hall severely limited the PE, drama and arts activities at the village junior and infant school at Kilkhampton in North Cornwall. These deficiencies were highlighted in an Ofsted report.
But that’s all in the past since the school, which is situated in the top 25 per cent of deprived wards nationally, was provided with a new multi-use hall courtesy of a £595,000 grant from the Space for Sport and Arts programme.
The programme aims to enhance the opportunities for children to participate in sport and arts activities by improving facilities, particularly in deprived areas. It is part Lottery and part Government funded and is backed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Education and Skills, Arts Council England, and the Big Lottery Fund, as well as Sport England.
It has funded almost 300 schemes at primary schools across the country at a cost of around £134m.
Alongside the sports hall in Kilkhampton, the facilities also include changing facilities, toilets, a kitchen, office, storage space and a multi-use room.
Kilkhampton Junior and Infanct School factfile
- Total cost of the new facilities was £633,050
- The project was a high priority for Cornwall County Council because the school is in a remote village with a high proportion of disadvantaged groups, particularly the unemployed and people on low incomes
- The school has always had a strong sports focus and the new hall helped it to develop that work
- Other rural communities in the area use the facilities under the North Cornwall District Council’s SHARE strategy
- The main strengths of the project were its Active Partnerships – especially with Drama and Sports Community Hall - with 30 per cent confirmed partnership funding.
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