Newbury girl creates survey to help save Shaw-cum-Donnington School's site
A former pupil of a Newbury primary school is campaigning to save her old school’s site from being purchased and built upon by developers.
Twelve-year-old Joely Rice of Kingsley Close, who studied at Shaw-cum-Donnington Primary School, has created a survey to determine what would be the best community use for the listed building that was officially opened in 1875.
After Joely’s family received a letter from Shaw-cum-Donnington Parish Council asking for support, she took it upon herself to determine what use for the building would best benefit the Shaw and Donnington community.
Joely said: “The parish council already suggested some ideas in their letter, and I added some more of my own, but since I published the survey on local Facebook groups, lots more comments and suggestions have been coming in.”
She was moved to try to save the site of her old school after recalling fond memories of her time there.
She is also currently working on an art project based on the history of the school and has been researching old school records, books and photos.
She added: “The funniest thing I learned is that during WWII, soldiers broke into the village hall and ran off with some of the knives and forks, so the next day the children had to take turns eating as there weren’t enough to go around!”
The Donnington Heights development includes plans for a new space for the primary school, which means the current school site will need to be privately sold to raise funds to build the new premises.
Shaw-cum-Donnington Parish Council carried out a survey to see how much of the community would be interested in seeing the school site turned into a public facility, with 93 per cent of residents reacting positively.
A number of ideas are being considered, with popular ones including a community café, a craft and repair workshop, and public spaces for clubs and groups to make use of.
Parish council clerk Gillian Durrant said: “We’re thrilled that Joely is so interested in saving the building.”
Fearing the new Donnington Heights development might become an isolated community away from the rest of Shaw and Donnington, the parish council hopes that a new community facility would be a “way to bring two sides of our parish together”.
The parish council has determined there is a demand for this type of facility, which it hopes to operate in tandem with the village hall, but it just needs to secure enough funding to be able to purchase the school site from the current owners, the Oxford Diocese.
It has already considered applying for funding from the National Lottery and Greenham Trust, as well as holding some of its own fundraising events.
The results of Joely’s survey will be sent to the parish council at the end of next month so that a business plan can be drawn up and fundraising can begin.
To complete Joely’s survey, visit surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FNM26N
