Education New plants donated before village toddler group opens Pupils at a village pre-school are enjoying the colour and beauty of plants donated by Waitrose. The Gillingham store gave Stower Vale Preschool, in Woodville, Stour Provost, plants to use in their garden. Chairman Sam Wattridge said: “As a small, rural preschool, we are hugely supported by the local community the recent donation of plants for our children to enjoy in our garden area is no exception. “In recent years we have been able to, with the support of local organisations, develop our outside space and
consequently offer an even more engaging environment for the children that attend our preschool to enjoy. “Set within the grounds of Stower Provost Community School, we have lots of outside space for the children
to enjoy, including access to the schools wonderful forest school and pond area, this recent donation of colourful plants will brighten up the garden space even more and we, as always, remain grateful to the local community for
their wonderful support.” This week the pre-school relaunched its toddler group, Stower Vale Toddlers, offering a ‘stay and forest play’ session to parents and toddlers, every Wednesday, during term time between 9.30-11. This session will be a rustic, forest play session for children to engage and enjoy the natural environment within the grounds of Stower Provost Community School. Sessions are limited to 10 adults, at present. For more information or to book find Stower Vale Preschool on Facebook or go to stowervalepreschool.co.uk.
College to spend £30m on transformation By Miranda Robertson Tens of millions of pounds of government funding is set to transform Yeovil College’s facilities over the next three years. The college’s award-
winning training restaurant, hair and beauty salon, performing arts studio, gym and sports hall will be redesigned, and plans are afoot to build an accessible and ultra-modern student hub and learning zone.
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Yeovil is one of just 16 colleges in the UK to receive their share of FE capital transformation fund, which is worth £1.5 billion and was introduced to rebuild college estates and create modern, fit-forpurpose spaces to meet the needs of students and the communities they serve. The college is set to spend more than £30 million, including money from the Department for Education’s (DfE), capital generated from the Institute of Technology (IoT), and its own significant investment. Mark Bolton, CEO and Principal, said: “We are delighted with this news. “Although our current campus is beautifully maintained and cared for, there is the need for improvement if we
are to fulfil the potential of our learners and the community, creating the space to fulfil our aspirations. The campus transformation plans will deliver a campus which reflects our approach and attitude to all that we do – only the best is good enough at Yeovil College. “The recent DfE announcement secures a big piece in the jigsaw for our ambitious £30 million plus campus transformation plan, which commenced in 2020 and will be mostly complete by 2024. With more than £5 million of development either complete or due for completion this year, the student experience is already leaping ahead with true 21st century facilities being developed to give our learners the edge in
their careers.” The DfE investment will help to shape a large proportion of the campus, its learning spaces and social areas. It will be specifically used to progress plans for several new buildings and benefit almost every curriculum area, but most notably A Levels, sport, protective services, performing arts, travel and tourism, hospitality, beauty, hair, media make-up and foundation learning and will create an ultra-modern and repurposed learning resource centre, catering facilities, digital social and learning spaces. Construction is expected to start in summer next year, with the building being completed and ready for the September 2024 cohort.
