Bishop will open ‘fun to use’ classrooms at village school

pupils at a South Yorkshire school will meet the Bishop of Doncaster when he visits to open newly refurbished buildings during a day-long visit to their village next week.

The Right Rev Cyril Ashton will officially cut the ribbon on classrooms at All Saints Church of England Primary School in Darfield, near Barnsley on Monday, February 7 before spending time with children and staff and taking a tour of the school which has been at the centre of a project to improve its facilities.

Bishop Ashton will be unveiling modernised classrooms, which have been designed especially for Key Stage One pupils, after they have received a colourful facelift to create what education bosses said was a “more vibrant and fun atmosphere”. The refurbishment has involved the demolition of ageing classrooms on the site in the village’s School Street, which have been replaced by modern “resourced learning areas”.

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Teachers from the school said they would also feel the benefit from the renovation as the works extended in the existing school to form a new staffroom area.

Bishop Ashton will also hold a short assembly for the school.

Geoffrey Hutchinson, chairman of the board of governors at All Saints Primary School, said yesterday: “The school was built in 1900 and this latest refurbishment has been a most imaginative internal reconstruction to give up-to-the-minute accommodation for the Key Stage One children.

“All Saints Church of England School is the oldest school in the village and one where the link with the church is constantly strengthening”.

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During his visit to Darfield, Bishop Ashton will also meet volunteers from the “Friends of the Churchyard” group who have staged a project to clear overgrown plants and raise cash to restore some of the key memorial stones.

The group is currently in its third year of clearing the churchyard, and has been successful in ensuring that most of the graves and gravestones can now be seen and read.

Members, who meet on Monday and Thursday afternoons also encourage people to spend time in the churchyard and study the gravestones they have uncovered. The group said anybody who wanted to join them in their efforts would be made welcome.