One of our aims of Sybil Andrews Academy is to make the school a real heartbeat of the community.
This vision is perfectly illustrated by the opening of the Skyliner Sports Centre which has seen us work closely with partners to deliver a fantastic addition to our school.
The sports centre will be managed jointly with Abbeycroft Leisure making it a perfect marriage between student use and a wonderful facility for the community.
I know our colleagues at Abbeycroft are delighted with the interest since it officially opened its doors at the end of January.
We were then equally pleased to welcome St Edmundsbury Mayor Julia Wakelam and other esteemed guests and colleagues to an official opening on 4th February.
This gave us a wonderful opportunity to showcase the facility and talk about the benefits it will have for our students.
We were also delighted to invite some of our sports leaders to help cut the ribbon on the new building.
Sport and healthy living is an essential part of all our lives and this must start from the very young.
It is going to be amazing that all pupils have access to state-of-the-art facilities to help aid the delivery of high quality PE.
Likewise, I know our sports team think it will be wonderful to host primary school events along with sports fixtures throughout the year.
The partnership I referred to at the beginning of this column has seen the building designed by Concertus and built by Barnes Construction and overall St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk County Council, Abbeycroft Leisure and Samuel Ward Academy Trust have worked together on the joint venture. I thank them all.
With highlights including two fitness studios, a four badminton court sports hall and an outdoor 3G all weather pitch, the benefits are obvious.
But I will leave the last word to Jack Patterson, one of our Year 7 sports leaders. When asked what he thought about the new facilities, Jack replied: “I cannot wait to get into the new sports facilities. It’s going to be great to have so much space dedicated to PE.”
Andy Prestoe,
Principal, Sybil Andrews Academy
