The “NEW” Girls Model School
It is hard to believe when you see how much of the building has already been constructed, that Farrans construction only started work back in April. They were lucky with the weather and were able to get much of the excavations done when the ground was dry. They now have a roof over their heads to save them from the floods!!
Of all the five schools being constructed, ours is the fastest to be built. This is because the builders can get on with their work uninterrupted behind that great big fence. They hope to have the building finished by Xmas 2009 and we will be moving in, in Jan 2010.
We will not know ourselves in the new school. All the main corridors will be much wider. It will feel much more spacious and bright. There will be a much bigger foyer and assembly hall, which will have a state of the art sound and lighting system. It will have its own control booth and there will be an extensive backstage area, including changing rooms, showers, toilets, dressing/make up rooms and prop stores. It will be possible to hear and see the performances in the assembly hall, in the backstage areas and in the music department, which will be just behind the assembly hall. Inside the hall will be extendable “bleacher seating”, which will provide up to 280 seats; to give people a better view of the stage.
The music department will be massive in comparison to what we now have. It will have its own rehearsal area, recording studio, computer suite, rock room, orchestra room and six practice rooms.
Upstairs, but close to the assembly hall, will be the Drama suite, which will contain a purpose built drama room with its own wrap around curtains, lighting and sound system.
The canteen will be much more attractive and placed in the centre of the school. It will have plasma screens, vending machines, sound system and a grab and go counter, in addition to the main servery area. It will have a range of seating and will be a much more pleasant area to sit in and relax.
The Home Economics department and Cache classroom will be placed next to our very own crèche. This crèche will have its own professional manager, who will be responsible for looking after up to 30 babies and young children. It is hoped that this facility will be used by pupils, staff and the local community. It will also be available to girls studying childcare courses who need work experience.
For those who wish to pursue careers in “Hair and Beauty”, you will be delighted to hear that above the crèche we will have our very own professional standard, Hair and Beauty Salon. This facility will allow us to offer many more places to those girls who are interested in this area of work. It will allow a much more realistic salon experience to be created; it will look just like a professional hair and beauty salon. It is also hoped that this salon will be used in the evening by the local community.
There are also a number of offices being built, which will allow social and health services to come into school and offer advice to those who desire it.
Just along from the Salon will be the largest computer suite in Belfast. It will contain 63 PCs and will be of great benefit to all those girls who enjoy ICT. Next door to it, will be the library which will also have 10 PCs and just along from that will be the sixth form centre, which will also have PCs, a social area and study area. Nearby will be the Media Studies suite. This will contain three purpose built rooms, namely, a recording studio, PC classroom and editing room. Much more room than the present cupboard the Media Studies department occupies!
The Art department will be right at the top of the school and will have fantastic views up towards Cavehill. It will have much more space than it has at the moment, eg it will have its own computer graphics room and sixth form study area.
Those who enjoy Dance, Hockey, Athletics, Tennis, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics and Trampolining will be delighted. In our new school we will have a ginormous, humongus, sports hall. It will be so massive that you will get lost in it. It will have space for six netball courts. Next door to that will be the gym, which will look titchy by comparison, Outside will be two “tartan” style hockey pitches, a 300 metre running track and 6 tennis courts. Inside will be a large fitness suite with a whole range of new fitness machines and also a dance theatre, with a mirrored wall, sprung wooden floor and floor to roof windows to provide natural light.
I hope this gives some idea of what lies in store for us when we enter the new building, it will be brilliant and so much better than what we have at the moment. But perhaps shed a tear for our existing building. It may be creaking and groaning but it has served us well for 50 years and deserves some respect. Take a look around over the next few months; it will soon be no more.
