Mary Hare School opens doors to new primary school in Newbury

A Newbury school that supports deaf children has opened the doors to its new primary school.

Mary Hare’s primary and secondary school will now be ‘together but separate’ as they share their site at Snelsmore.

The old primary school, formerly Mill Hall Oral School for the deaf, was based at Mill Hall since moving there from Sussex in 1996.

The school launched its appeal to build the new purpose built facility in 2017.

The Mary Hare Foundation set its target at raising £4 million towards the project and commenced building in June 2021.

Mary Hare principal Robin Askew said: “We are delighted to have now opened our brand new primary school.

“It has been a project long in the making and we are extremely grateful for all the donations and support through trusts and grants that have enabled us to achieve this big step towards our ambition to invest in the future of education for deaf children.”

He continued: “Having both schools together on one site will lead to greater efficiencies and collaboration while moving forward with a ‘together but separate’ approach.

“The opening of the new school holds close to our mission to transform the lives of deaf children and their families.

“I hope that lots of families with primary aged deaf children will come and see the new school for themselves. We are here to provide the very best support for their children.”

The school was handed the keys to the new facility from contractor Beard on August 10.

Staff have since been making the big move into the building ready for the new academic year.

Beard’s Swindon director Jamie Harwood said: “Our expertise in the education sector means we understand the importance of creating spaces which both promote a culture of learning for pupils and are world class workplaces for teachers and staff.

“Beard is proud to have delivered a resource of such national importance for the teaching of deaf children.”