News / Education
Primary school for Central Library basement
By the start of September 2015, this loading bay could become the main entrance to Cathedral Primary School:
The most oversubscribed school in Bristol is currently in temporary premises but planning permission was granted on Wednesday evening to make the lower two floors of Bristol Central Library its new home.
is needed now More than ever
Cathedral Primary School chair of governors, Stephen Parsons, said: “We are delighted that planning consent has now been granted. This is a pivotal moment in the history of our new primary school and I am sure generations of children to come will have cause to be grateful for the council’s vision and commitment to the future of education.
“We will now press ahead with creating a truly inspirational educational environment in one of Bristol’s great buildings.”
But Love Bristol Libraries have responded with “sadness and disappointment”. Read their feelings here.
It will see a return for children to the space, some of which originally housed the city’s children’s library. This photo is from 1924:
Plans are for the school to have 14 classrooms and a hall spanning the two floors which will see the removal of a concrete mezzanine floor added in the 1950s.
In College Square, an area currently used for storing bins will be transformed into a garden where the children can play, with the restoration of railings surrounding it which were removed during World War Two.
College Square will also be made mostly car-free.
The primary school will not have a catchment area in the local vicinity, but be made up of pupils whose names will be drawn out of a hat who will then once of secondary school age move up to the selective Bristol Cathedral Choir School.