PICTURES: Nursery pupils at Crown Primary School in Inverness start new school year in new unit thanks to neighbouring Crown Church of Scotland
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Nursery pupils at an Inverness primary school have started the new school year in a new unit – in the neighbouring church.
The innovative arrangement involving Crown Primary School and Crown Church has avoided the need to reduce the size of the school playground with a new classroom unit.
Highland Council has agreed a 25-year lease to use the church’s lower hall which has been transformed into two nursery classrooms as part of a major upgrade of the historic building.
As pupils returned this week, nursery children – some of whom previously watched the work through the fence – were welcomed into their new surroundings.
Acting head teacher Bev Douglas said the new nursery provides early learning and child care for 64 children in a dedicated space with its own garden, kitchen and dining room.
“We have more of everything!” she said.
“There is more space to create different environments and experiences inside and outside, more space for children to help prepare their own snacks, and more space for social eating.
“We have brought many of our resources with us so there’s familiarity for the children who were with us last year – they watched through the fencing as the new nursery was created and helped to plan how the new rooms and garden would look.”
The children and staff remain very much part of Crown Primary with timetabled sessions in the school hall, all-weather pitch and loose parts area plus access to the playing field and trim trail.
“They will continue to have buddies in P6 who will go on to be P7 buddies to next year’s P1s, and they will join in with whole school assemblies, shows and sports events,” Ms Douglas said.
Mts Douglas continued: “Before Covid, we loved the inter-generational element of our work – we regularly visited care homes to sing songs and play games, for example.
“We really want to get back into the community as much as we can this year and we will have new opportunities to do this thanks to our partners and neighbours within Crown Church.”
Groups which used the lower hall have relocated to the upper hall which has had a major refurbishment.
