Archbishop Peter Smith visited St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School in Canterbury on Friday 5th October 2018, to celebrate the official opening of the school’s new classrooms.
The morning began with mass in the school hall, where the Archbishop was joined by local clergy, governors, pupils and families, to celebrate the start of a new school year. During the mass, children led on readings, offertory and altar serving – children were to be commended for their singing and overall participation.
Before mass concluded, Miss Lisa D’Agostini (Headteacher) took to the lectern to talk about a special award being presented by the Archbishop to Mrs Marion Nash. Mrs Nash has devoted 30 years of service to St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School as a Governor – the last 20 years were served as Chair of Governors. During the summer, Mrs Nash decided to call time on being a Governor and so the school, along with the Archdiocese, decided to mark her dedication and commitment to the school and parish life, with a special diocesan award.
After mass, parents and guests had the opportunity to meet the Archbishop over light refreshments. Once the children’s break time had finished, Archbishop Peter Smith visited each classroom to speak with the children and answer any questions they had.
Archbishop Peter Smith and Mrs Marion Nash officially opened the new classrooms by cutting a ribbon and a plaque was installed to mark the occasion. In attendance for this short ceremony were representatives of the many agencies involved, including the Education Commission for the Archdiocese of Southwark who secured the funding and Faithorn Farrell Timms who were the project’s Architect and Agent. The school expressed their thanks and gratitude to both agencies for their help and support with the building project and extended this to Lowrie Brothers based in Ashford, who were the main contractor. Archbishop Peter Smith was given a tour of the new building and blessed the classrooms with holy water.
After several years of planning for replacement classrooms, building work was finally completed before the summer holidays and children moved into the new building this September. The modern timber cladded building offers two large and spacious classrooms, as well as additional toilets, storage and meeting space. Further works are expected to begin within the school over the next few weeks including a linked walkway connecting the main school building to the new modular building, as well as a redesigning of the school’s upper floor to create a multi-functional space to enrich learning across the curriculum.
