Last month, Wellingborough School’s aptly named new Gateway Building opened both its doors and a host of new opportunities for pupils, staff and the wider community.
Designed primarily as a learning space with a focus on digital literacy, the Gateway Building draws together all aspects of technology in teaching, from computing and engineering to food and nutrition, product design and textiles. It also houses the school’s new reception area and health and wellbeing spaces, as well as 250-seat lecture theatre.
The Gateway Building is part of Project Copernicus, the school’s 30-year strategic development plan, launched in 2021. At the heart of the project is futureproofing the school’s facilities and teaching approach: aligning capital investment with long-term goals, anticipating shifts in learning, and ensuring the school remains competitive in a rapidly evolving sector.
Overseeing the official opening of the building in January was Headteacher Simon Hawkes, who joined the school last summer and who has already worked hard to reframe the school’s purpose, vision and values.
“While the building has a focus on technology, we didn’t want it to be seen as design and tech centred because education as a whole is now about digital literacy, equipping pupils with the skills and knowledge they need to be workplace ready,” said Simon.
“While lessons in computing and design technology are still an important part of the curriculum, there are spaces in the new building for textiles, product design and food and nutrition. Kitchen skills and teaching young people about nutrition and healthy living is vital and that can now lead to some alternative academic qualifications in sixth form for those looking to maybe go into hospitality or to study sports science with nutrition.
“The Gateway Building is situated next to the art department and together they form a space that brings creativity and technology together.”
Parents and visitors will get their first proper look at the Gateway Building at the school’s Open Day on March 7, where they will also be able to find out more about the school’s refreshed values and vision.
The school’s stated purpose is ‘to develop confident, rounded and grounded young people equipped with the empathy and energy to make a positive difference to the world’ reinforced by a co-curricular programme that goes hand in hand with first-class teaching to deliver an all-round education.
Simon added: “Academic results are important, of course, but we focus on delivering outstanding education with pathways for pupils with different interests and abilities, and preparing them for life beyond school, while still building on the history of the school.
“We are working to form stronger partnerships with other organisations, local primary schools and businesses, and we want to show the pride that Wellingborough School has in our school and our local community.
“The Gateway Building is also a new gateway to the school, creating a cleaner, more professional entrance and opening up opportunities to build stronger links with our wider network.”
With pupils able to join Wellingborough School in the nursery at just two years old and go right through to Sixth Form, children of all ages benefit from the impressive facilities on offer throughout their education.
Pupils in the Lower and Upper Prep Schools undertake the International Primary Curriculum which interlinks subjects and topics – something that will be enhanced by the time they will spend in the Gateway Building.
Katharine Owen, Head of the Prep School, said: “One of the benefits of being a through school is that younger children have facilities available to them that might not typically be found in primary schools.
“Technology runs throughout school life and young children today have only ever known a life with technology at their fingertips, and what is important is learning how to integrate it into their lives and also getting the right balance with the non-tech side of things.
“Children love to work with their hands, whether it’s getting stuck into food tech lessons or making things in the workshop, and the beauty of our curriculum is that it encourages learning through doing, because that’s the most effective way to learn.
“Young children are so enthusiastic about learning, and we encourage them to be curious and ask lots of questions, and having a facility like this available to them is only going to make learning that little bit easier and more fun.”
As well as the Open Day on March 7 and similar events later in the year, the Nursery offers regular Stay and Play sessions for children from two years, where they and their parents can spend time experiencing more of what Wellingborough School has to offer.
To find out more about the March Open Day and Stay and Play sessions, visit their website, or for further information contact admissions@wellingboroughschool.org or call 01933 222427.
