New head takes over at Keevil school (From Wiltshire Times)

New head takes over at Keevil school

11:06am Friday 1st October 2010 in News

Headteacher Max Burr has taken over the running of Keevil Primary School, as the school announced its intake had now grown to 85 pupils.

Mr Burr, 37, who lives in Devizes, has taken over the reins after former headteacher of two years Jackie Chalk moved on to Seend Primary School. She had taught at Keevil for 10 years.

The school has just announced that its population has swelled from around 50 pupils to 85 since the start of the new term.

To accommodate the growing demand, the school has opened a new £128,000 block with a headteacher’s office, reception area and one-to-one pupil room.

It has also extended its reception classroom. The improvements have been paid for partly by the Diocese of the Church of England and partly by Wiltshire Council.

Father-of-two Mr Burr, whose last job was head at Zouch School in Tidsbury for 18 months, said: “It is exciting times for the school. Thanks must go to Jackie for what she’s done. We are really building from that and I hope the opening of our new block really is a sign that we are being taken seriously in what are especially difficult times.

“A goal I am aiming for is for us to be deemed outstanding within four years.

“As the school becomes more and more successful we will want to know from parents what they would like to see improved.”

Mr Burr said although it is a fast growing school, there are still places in Years Four and Five. He hopes to attract new children from Keevil, Steeple Ashton, Bulkington and even Trowbridge.

He added: “We are a small school here and I want to encourage that. We can offer children something different and want parents to see that we are an option for them.

“I hope that our increasing intake and the new school buildings are a sign of confidence in us and our future.”

Keevil Primary School has enjoyed rising numbers of pupils since the closure of St Mary’s CofE Primary School at Steeple Ashton in 2003. Dwindling numbers there, ending with just 22 children in the whole school, forced the closure of the 100-year-old school.

The building has just been reopened as a new home for the Wiltshire Guild for Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.