Once a jungle-themed youth centre and now a bright and welcoming Sixth Form hub – a tired old building at The Blandford School has been completely transformed thanks to teamwork, community spirit … and a lot of hands-on graft.
Tucked between the school and the leisure centre, the new Sixth Form Centre opened at the start of the autumn term, giving students their own dedicated social and study space for the first time.
‘It’s about giving them somewhere to call their own,’ says site team member Mark Rendell, who was heavily involved in the transformation and dedicated countless hours of his spare time to renovating the space. ‘Before this, they had the Well and their study area, but this is the sixth formers’ own place – a home-from-home inside the school.’
The building – once home to the Blandford Youth Centre – had long been unused and unloved. ‘There were fake brick walls, polystyrene murals, concrete wire … it was all very “jungle” themed,’ Mark says. ‘We gutted the whole place.’
Everything except the carpet was done in-house by the school’s site team – including painting, furniture, and fitting out the kitchen.
The sixth form team had long wanted to offer their students a more grown-up, collegiate atmosphere – and this project finally made it possible.
Inside, the new space offers a mix of chill-out and light study areas, with bar-style seating and plenty of plug sockets for laptops. There’s full WiFi access, a dedicated kitchen (including a coffee machine on monthly hire), and secure access via swipe card.
‘It’s already working well,’ says Mark. ‘Sometimes you walk in and they’re all chatting together, other times they’re working on laptops with a hot chocolate in hand. That’s exactly what we wanted.’
Much of the furniture and kitchen equipment was donated or repurposed – and local support has played a huge part in the project’s success.
‘We asked for a shopping list from the school,’ says John Dalston from Blandford and Stour Rotary Club. ‘Using a grant we gave, we went out and bought everything on it – chairs, kitchen stuff, all sorts.’
The club has a long-standing relationship with the school and is planning more support in the months ahead, including a fundraiser at the Blandford Yuletide Festival in December.
There’s still more to come, says Mark: ‘Phase two is upstairs. We haven’t touched that yet. It’ll be the same process – gut it, re-do it all and hopefully make a quiet study area or a social space with little rooms for things like computer work.’
The school is still hoping for support from the community, too – with wish-list items including a bag rack system, wall art and homely touches to soften the space.
‘It’s not just about making something that looks nice,’ Mark says. ‘It’s about giving our sixth formers a bit of independence – a space that feels like theirs.
‘Somewhere that teaches a bit of life stuff, too: how to make a coffee, load the dishwasher, clear up after yourself – you know … the good stuff.’
