New storage solution frees up classroom accommodation

A growing school roll and the expansion of the age range of its pupils, led a Bury St Edmunds school to invest in outside storage space to free up classroom accommodation.

Great Barton CE Primary Academy is a mixed Church of England school for children aged 4-11 years. Since 1990, the school roll has gradually increased and in 2014, it became a full primary, with a smart new building for Year 5 and 6 pupils.

Sarah Rees, Headteacher said: “We needed to replace our old storage sheds, one for the school and one for the Parent Teacher & Friends Association, and contacted Portable Space as one of the three companies to supply quotes.

“The fact that they were a local company was important too and once we decided to accept their quotation, we spoke to the team who gave us very helpful advice. Initially we were going to have a 40ft container but there were issues with delivery as it was too long for the site. Portable Space was excellent in solving the problem for us by suggesting we had two 20ft storage containers which incorporated the single door handles for easy access.

“Delivery and installation was excellent; they used a small lorry to ensure easy access to our site and the staff were extremely helpful. In fact, it was a great experience from start to finish – quotations were easy to obtain and viewings were useful to help us understand what we needed, including extras, such as electrics, lighting and a Grafo-therm anti-condensation coating.

“We now have a much better storage solution than previously and this has enabled us to free up space within the school building, following our expansion.’’