Legend Matt Le Tissier Opens New Education Building

Stroud School in Hampshire welcomed national footballing legend Matt Le Tissier this month to formally open the new state-of-the-art facilities at their Romsey site.

The new ‘Woodhall Building’ has been named in honour of Stroud’s founding Headmaster in 1926, Frank E Woodhall, and the School was delighted to welcome his daughter, Rosemary Arden-White, as a special guest, alongside Cllr Dorothy Baverstock, Romsey Town Mayor, Cllr Ian and Mrs Carr, Test Valley Mayor and Mayoress, and Cllr Chris Wesson, Chairman of Romsey Extra Parish Council.

The building’s entrance was teeming with excited children sporting glow-in-the-dark spectacles, which were sold to raise money for Naomi House, a children’s hospice for which Mr Le Tissier is an ambassador. The enthusiasm of the students was matched by many parents hoping to catch a glimpse of their footballing hero. During the opening ceremony, ambassadors from different year groups presented their carefully prepared time capsules and placed them for burial in the entrance pathway. Mr Le Tissier then cut the ribbon and invited everyone to tour the building for themselves. Guests were then thrilled by a very impressive fireworks display to mark the occasion.

Key Stage One is a key point of transition for pupils, leaving behind the Early Years and progressing towards more formalised classroom learning. With this in mind, the new building has been specially designed to facilitate learning for 5 to 7-year-olds. Complete with a junior ICT suite for programming lessons and a Key Stage library, each room has access to outdoor learning spaces. The soundproof, folding walls between teaching rooms enable collaborative interaction across more open and flexible spaces. These have been used successfully in Finnish schools, which regularly feature in the top five within world education tables. These walls also offer an interactive space, where students and teachers can write together to build topic knowledge.

Kirsten Walton, Head of Key Stage One, said: “There has always been a tangible buzz within the Key Stage One department at Stroud. This new building and the facilities provided allow us to even further develop the way we teach and ultimately how our children learn, which is really exciting. Learning spaces need to be inspirational, and that is exactly what we have achieved in our new space.”