TEACHING and sports improvements are expected if Orley Farm School in Harrow on the Hill wins permission for a multi-million pound revamp.
The private school in South Hill Avenue wants to build a handful of extensions to create extra classrooms, a revamped entrance, a relocated kitchen and dining room, a base for children with special educational needs, music rehearsal rooms, sports pavilion, better disabled access and a new footpath along South Hill Avenue.
Tim Brand, bursar, said: “The project is worth £10million and is going to take place over seven or eight years.
“We like to think of ourselves as the top independent school and although our parents think our facilities are generally good, we have a more critical view of it, and we're trying to position ourselves in the market and set ourselves up for the next 30 to 40 years, so we're going to improve the fabric of the building.
“We need more classrooms because we're packed in so tight that if we lose a classroom due to a lack of electricity or heating, or a leak, we literally have no room to put people, and furthermore, we have three classes per year group but we go into four sets for English, maths and science.
“But by the end of this, we'll have three extra classrooms.”
If Harrow Council's planning committee grants approval for the plans in April, contractors will begin work on the first phase in June.
Mr Brand said: “The primary building we're doing is relocating the kitchen and dining room because it frees up space to create a new library, learning resource centre and drama studio.
“Everything is very closely intertwined. We want to build a new extension for the music school but first, it'll become four new classrooms so we don't have to put up temporary accommodation, which is otherwise obviously very expensive.
“We'll do perhaps one third to a half of the project in the next 18 months and then have a two or three year break, which gets the builders off site and allows us to save up the money we need for the rest of it.”
Mr Brand said the school has not completed any building work for 10 years and that the upgrade project was initiated by the arrival of headmaster Mark Dunning four and a half years ago and a change of a large number of personnel on the governing body.
He said: “We want to stay as a popular and successful school. You're always looking over your shoulder at your competitors and if you don't improve, one day you'll look behind and see no-one because they've all surged ahead of you.
“Parents are giving their support - they're very 'pro' the scheme.”
Mr Dunning said: “The school just celebrated its 160th anniversary and is looking forward to celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2050 and we want to have the facilities for that era and facilities as good as they can possibly be for the children, not just the students here now but those who will be here for the bicentenary.”
