Kensworth Lower School Opens Early Years Extension

We are delighted to announce that the Early Years extension at Kensworth Lower School in Bedfordshire has been completed ahead of contract, and in time for the beginning of the autumn term. To the delight of the teaching staff, it took just 16 weeks from the date that the contractors moved onto site before handover of the new setting. The pre-school now has provision for up to 20 children between the ages of 2 and 5 years, with some fantastic play and learning facilities.

The main area is a flexible space allowing a safe and secure environment for children to play and learn, along with supporting facilities such as a new office and toilets. There’s also an external canopy area, and the existing school entrance has been much improved.

The facility was officially opened by the Bishop of Bedford on 18th September. Headteacher Anna Kentish was very happy with the finished result: “PCMS made great efforts to ensure that there was minimum disruption to the school during the construction phase, and we now have a new early year’s facility we can be proud of. We will also be using the space for wrap-around care such as our breakfast and after-school clubs, and possibly even a holiday play scheme.”

Improved Facilities at John Watson School in Wheatley

John Watson School, which is based a few miles from Oxford in the village of Wheatley, is a community special school that caters for children with Special Educational Needs from the ages of 2 to 19. It has dedicated facilities for children with a range of disabilities, including some with physical impairment.

Members of staff recently approached PCMS to plan and design a quick and cost-effective space reorganisation. They needed a better servery in the dining area; our solution was to design a kitchenette incorporating height-adjustable cabinets, worktop and sink, along with the creation of a new stainless steel serving counter with a roller shutter. Building Control consent has been granted, and the School will be employing a local contractor to complete the works to our design and specification.

In another part of the school there is a poorly laid-out area accommodating male and female WCs, and an unsuitable disabled WC. After undertaking a detailed survey, we have produced plans and a specification to radically improve the use of the internal space, allowing for the installation of a new hot water heater, male and female WCs and a much improved DDA WC. A specialised hoist has been included in the shower facility. John Watson School are delighted in the improvements that will shortly be made to the existing fabric of the building.

Acorn Pre-School Celebrate First Year in New Home

Acorn Pre-School, which is based in the town of Shefford in Bedfordshire, recently celebrated the first anniversary of moving into their permanent home. PCMS helped them to design a new building to provide enough space for 30 children which also incorporated a kitchen area, toilets, meeting room and separate office. PCMS specified internal fixtures and fittings, carried out a tendering process with local construction firms, and managed the build contract throughout.

The project was finished on time and on budget. Acorn Pre-School Manager Maggie Smith said, "I am so pleased with the new building, and the children have really benefitted from the extra space."

This article appeared in the June edition of 'Under 5', the magazine published by the Pre-School Learning Alliance. Simply left click on the article to read the full version.

New Meeting Room at Shefford Lower School

The construction of a new meeting room has recently been completed at Shefford Lower School in Bedfordshire.

PCMS helped to overcome a number of design and sequencing challenges at the outset to ensure that the project ran smoothly. Despite the school having been extended a few years ago, previous meeting space had been turned into an IT suite there were limited options for building elsewhere on the school site.

The solution was to infill some ‘dead space’ in a small courtyard area. A set of doors and a window were re-used, and building materials such as bricks and roof tiles were carefully matched with the existing school to achieve a seamless appearance with the new extension.

Best of all, in order to minimise disruption PCMS carefully programmed the construction works to coincide with school holidays. So re-siting of the door, window and path was carried out during the Autumn ½ term holiday, following by digging of the foundations in February and finally the walls, roof and interior fit-out were completed during the Easter break.

The School is very pleased with the finished result. Headteacher Tracey Callender said: “PCMS were on hand to offer reliable advice and expertise from the initial stages and throughout the project, and I would certainly use PCMS again for any similar work at the school.”

PCMS Joins Association for Project Management

PCMS is pleased to announce that we are now registered as a Corporate member of the Association for Project Management (APM). This demonstrates an ongoing commitment to the professional development of our project and programme management, and is also a sign of our commitment to the profession.

APM gives support in many areas of training and development, and provides opportunities for members to enhance their knowledge and skills by accessing and contributing to leading-edge ideas in the practice of project management.

We have an ongoing commitment to provide an excellent project management service for all of our clients.

Construction Begins at Kensworth Lower School

Construction work has just begun on a new Early Years Building at Kensworth Lower School in Bedfordshire. Completion is due in time for the start of the new academic year this September. The pre-school currently operates from the school hall, but PCMS have designed a new purpose built facility to cater for up to 20 children. There will be a large internal play area, a covered outdoor play area, WCs, office and kitchenette together with plenty of indoor and outdoor storage. The scheme also includes improvements to the school entrance, providing a new covered entrance canopy.

Headteacher Anna Kentish was delighted to see the works begin. “The whole school is looking forward to this extension, as we will all benefit from the extra space. It will be great for our younger children to have a properly designed area and their own facilities at last.”

PCMS will be acting as project managers throughout the construction phase. Watch this space to see how the project develops!

PCMS Website Relaunch

We are very proud to announce that the relaunched PCMS website is now online. The new site clearly offers each of our customer groups - public sector, homeowners, businesses and developers - a clear explanation of how we can help with construction, renovation or refurbishment plans.
     
Find out everything you need to know about our project management or architectural design services, view case studies of recent jobs, catch up on the latest sector-specific and project news, or ask us to contact you by filling in our simple form.
   
The website has arrived following careful development, working in partnership with web designers AnnWebCom, as well as a small selection of our satisfied clients.