This is the first look inside Barry’s re-built Whitmore High School which has opened four months ahead of schedule.
Pupils were “insanely excited” when they saw the transformation said head of school Innes Robinson.
Teaching space and classrooms are spread across three storeys, with 70 general classrooms, eight science labs and two drama and activity studios.
Indoor and outdoor sporting facilities include an all-weather pitch, fitness suite and multi-use games court. There is also a central courtyard for group learning and informal use.
The main entrance leads almost straight into the open plan canteen which looks out onto the courtyard.
There is a dedicated sixth form area and a staircase seating area which Mr Robinson joked was straight out of High School Musical.
Having a hand in the planning and design Mr Robinson said he wanted the school to be open and welcoming for all his 1,100 pupils.
A specialist learning centre will help support students with additional learning needs who can spend half their time there and half the time in the main school.
The music studio is fitted with the latest equipment and the hall, which fits more than 400 people, has retractable seating and a movable partition wall to make it larger.
Staff and pupils moved into the building on Thursday, May 6, to allow the old school building alongside to be demolished. New sporting facilities, which will be shared with the town’s other high schools and rented out to local clubs, will be built where it stood.
The old school, previously named Barry Comprehensive, was built in 1966 and was judged "beyond economical repair".
Although pupils and staff have moved in to the new site the project won’t be fully complete until spring 2022.
The work was carried out by Morgan Sindall Construction under the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s 21st Century Schools programme, in partnership with Welsh Government.
Mr Robinson, who has been head of school for two years, was deputy head at Cardiff’s Eastern High before moving to Whitmore, and worked through a school re-build there. He said he knew the impact of a good environment , especially after a year of Covid restrictions and worry.
“It’s the right time to move in. Kids have had the worst year.
“A new building does not make a good school. We have fantastic teachers and positive pupils.
“It’s the children’s building and they are very excited. “The environment they are in now says “you matter and you are valued.
“The pupils have the capacity to do anything they want and the minute they walk in the building they can see these fantastic facilities are for them.
“A brilliant building does not make a good school but it gives it the capacity to be excellent. This just amplifies our ethos and what we are doing.”
Part of his ethos is for pupils to find their passions as well as do their best academically. As part of that extra curricular subjects are now embedded in the curriculum so pupils have to try them.
Walking the corridors there are corners of mini seating areas and open plan, mixed gender toilets. Each of the three floors has walls painted different colours - blue for the ground floor, lime green and orange as you go up.
There is no large separate reception area because Mr Robinson said he wanted to emphasise that there are no barriers and locked doors. Pupils, staff and any visitors go straight into the main open plan hall and canteen.
Large windows and wide spaces create a feeling of light and freedom, and the building has the added bonus of making social distancing and ventilation easier as education emerges from pandemic restrictions.
Chair of Governors Antonia Forte said she is looking forward to watching the school’s drama productions again. Whitmore High is over subscribed for September and some parents were in tears when they heard their children had got a place in the new support base, she said.
“We have already got high quality teaching and learning and this gives us the opportunity to deliver that in a bespoke building.”
As Mr Robinson helps his team and pupils move in after a year of coronavirus disruption he hopes the new building will be a boost to everyone and he is excited to see their reactions.
“Pupils will decide how they use this building and areas like the High School Musical staircase. They asked if they can sit on it. Of course they can. It’s their building."
Whitmore High shares an executive headteacher, Dr Vincent Browne, with nearby Pencoedtre High which is also being re-built. That school's new home is due to open in November this year.
