It is a very exciting time for everyone at Triangle, as we are working with Calderdale to modernise our school building! The work should include:
A new 4 classroom extension situated to the rear of the building as you look from Butterworth Lane.
A new entrance area built in front of the current main entrance.
Extensive remodelling of the rest of the school.
A new car park for staff and visitors on the school field.
The work is expected to take about 40 weeks to complete.
This page will act as a sort of diary to keep everyone in the picture about what is happening. The most recent entries will be at the top of the page. We hope you will enjoy following the progress of this project.
Monday 16th November: The old part of the building is really taking shape now. Here are a few photographs I took on Friday of some of the areas...
This was the old classes 3 and 4, looking from what would have been Class 4. As you can see the decoration is in keeping with the new extension. We hope that the final effect will be a very smooth transition between the old and the new parts of the school.
This is a picture of the rest of what was Class 4. This small room will be for the library. We can't wait to get these extra spaces as at the moment we do not have any spare spaces around school to store thing or work in small groups.
Can you tell where this is? The old paint on the walls is a big clue.
This space was the old junior toilets at the back of the hall. The 'purple' side was the for the girls and the 'blue' side for the boys. It has been made in to one room that will be used for storage. We think that, amongst other things, the dining room tables and benches will go in here.
This was Class 2! The room has been split in to 4 main areas. The room behind the closed door is a sick room. Next to it is the headteacher's office. Then comes a meeting room. Finally there is a store room (behind the wall with the radiator on it).
And finally for now, here's an updated picture of the area that will form part of the main entrance. The large window is the administration office. Opposite this is the caretaker's store and a small room for the photocopier. If you look at the bottom photograph from 19th October, you can see how this area has moved on since the last time I put some pictures on.
Monday 19th October: Work is now well under way in the old part of the school. The builders have found some problems that have resulted in some extra work that needs to be done. This will put the completion date back, but it should still be during this term. Here's a few photographs I took last week:
This photograph was taken in the old Class 3. As you can see, the wall between Class 3 and Class 4 has been removed to create a bigger space. A new room is being created at the end that will be the library.
This new classroom will be a spare room. You can just see the new door that leads to the out door space behind the new Class 1.
This is a picture of the old Class 1. You can see the new doorway that has been formed so that you can get to the old infant toilets.
You can also see that the plaster has been removed at the bottom of the walls and the floor has been taken up along the edges too. This is because the builders found lots of damp and rotten floor joists!
Can you tell where this picture is?
The space to the left was Class 2's cloakroom and the space to the right was the old ICT room. The outside wall has been removed so that this is part of the main entrance.
The wooden structure will be part of the new admin office, whilst a caretaker's store and a reprographics room will be formed in the old cloakroom.
The floor in here is much higher that it was originally, so that it is one the same level as the newly built extension.
Monday 21st September: All the children are now settled into the new classrooms. We all think that they are great! Work has begun on remodelling the old part of the school. This is mainly ripping things out at the moment. Here's what classes 1 and 2 looked like on Friday:
The image to the left is Class 1 and the one below is Class 2.
Friday 11th September: Despite my regular visits to school over the summer holidays, I neglected to take any pictures of the modernisations (doh!). Below are some pictures I took today. They give you a sneaky look around the extension before we move things in. Enjoy!
First here's a picture looking at the main pupil entrance of the new extension (behind Class 5). The electricians in the picture are still working hard to make sure that the building is ready on time for us to move in to.
Eventually Class 5 will have their own entrance, but for now they will share this route into school. The classroom on the ground floor will be Class 2 whilst the one above it is earmarked to be Class 4. (Miss Steele likes the views!!)
This is the entrance that goes directly into Class 1. To get to this entrance you have to walk around the new extension. The ground floor windows to the right of the door is Class 1 and above it is Class 3.
The space above the door is the new staffroom.
This is a view of the extension from around the back. You can see the windows of Class 3 (left), Class 4 (above right) and Class 2 (below right). This picture also shows the new path that leads down to the school from the field. Eventually there will be a staff car park on the field too.
All the soil you can see will have grass laid back down.
Now let's have a look inside...
This is one of the four new classrooms. All four are decorated in a very similar way. Class 5 has also been redecorated. They all have a stock cupboard (the door on the left) and their own sink. The staff are very excited and can't wait to move in!
This is one of the new toilet areas. There is a new boys and girls toilet and Class 1 have their own area.
After Mrs. Turner discussed colours with the School Council we decided to stick to two main colours; yellow and blue. This is the girls toilet. The boys toilet is very similar, but the yellow and blue swaps around.
This is the new staff room. It is much bigger than the present one and the adults feel very lucky to be getting such a large area. It actually uses the roof space above a corridor.
Despite things being almost ready, there's lots of little jobs to finish off or re-do. This is called 'snagging'.
On the picture the site foreman is letting the decorators know what needs sorting out in the room.
And finally... This is a view of the steps and lift up to the first floor. The hand rails had only just been fitted when this photo was taken.
The reason we have the lift is so that anybody who can't use stairs can still access the first floor. It is important to try to make sure that the new building is accessible for everyone.
Monday 6th July: The building is moving along nicely. Last week they put the stones with the school name above the new main entrance. This got us all very excited about the work in school. Here's a few recent pictures.
As you can see from this image taken from the slope at the back of the school, the roofers have been working hard to get the slates on. I know I've said it before, but I can't wait for the scaffolding to come down!!
Another view inside the staffroom on the first floor. As you can see the roof is prepared, the Velux windows are installed and the under floor heating has been laid. The blue material on the floor shows where studded walls will be positioned. The little room in the foreground will be a shower!
This is one of the ground floor classrooms. As you can see the windows are in and the walls are plastered. The under floor heating will be laid this week on the ground floor areas.
Monday 22nd June: Here are some photographs I took on Friday. The contractors are working hard to get the building water tight as soon as possible. Enjoy...
This photograph was taken from the back of the extension looking accross the outside space for the new Class 1. To the left you can see the entrance that the Class 1 children will be able to use. I can't wait for the scaffolding to come down so we can see it properly!
This is looking out of one of the windows on the first floor. Once the scaffolding is removed there will be some stunning views from these upstairs classrooms.
This is a recent view on the first floor area that will become the new staffroom. You can see that the joiners are now on site, preparing for the roof to go on.
Another image from the 'staff room' area. This picture shows how the builders are joining the various parts of the old and new building together. The stone triangle was the top of Class 5 that was visible from the outside. Inside that you can see the small blocks that were inside the roof space of the fiction library. Around it you can see the block work of the new building.
Monday 15th June: The new building is pointing high above our heads. We hope that the roof will be going on very soon. Despite this progress the work is about 3 weeks behind schedule. Away from the extension, work is progressing on replacing the school's boiler. At the moment we don't have any heat, so we're all praying that the warm weather continues! Here are a couple of pictures I took today.
This photograph is taken from the slope looking back towards the school. The stone layers are forming the 'apex' and this has let us see the finished shape on the extension. It takes a lot of work to cut the stones and blocks to be the correct shape.
Even though the building is not water tight, some internal work has begun on the ground floor. This 'first fix' work has included running the electric cables for lights, sockets, fire alarms and computer points.
Tuesday 2nd June: Despite some rainy days through the end of May, the building has continued to grow. Some more internal work was also done over the half term holidays, creating new doorways that will be needed eventually. Here are some photographs I took today. Enjoy!
This is the first floor looking back towards the school. You can see the steel structure that will help to support the new roof. The men in the background are inspecting the work and discussing how things are going. They are stood in what will be the new staffroom!
This picture was taken around the back of Class 5. The doorway you can see will be a pupil entrance for the first floor classrooms. The extension is being built out of new stone, but it has all been chosen to match the older parts of the school building.
This picture is taken from where the men were standing in the first picture. It is looking at the school hall. As you can see, the windows have been made much smaller. The big space below the windows will be a serving hatch and the new room in front of it will be the kitchen.
Monday 18th May: Things have continued to move on quickly, despite a turn for the worse in the weather. The ground floor structure is built and the stairs have been craned into position. They have also poured the concrete to form the first floor. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks...
The steps came pre-formed and had to be craned into position. The space in the centre of the steps (on the right of this photo) is for the lift.
This picture is taken from the top of the stairs looking back towards the school. The steel girders are the support for the next floor.
You can just make out piles of silver corrugated steel. These sheets are secured to the girders so that the concrete can be poured...
... And here they are pouring the concrete! It was amazing to watch. They started at 8.30 and had finished the entire floor by playtime!!!
Things have slowed up a little since this was done because of the rain.
Friday 1st May: The extention's structure continues to rise up and take shape. Here's a photo taken today...
This is the same corner of the building as shown in the photograph I uploaded on Tuesday (see below). Scaffolding has been erected so that the bricklayers can work at a higher level. It wasn't all good news however. The scaffolder's wagon broke down and this prevented a crane brought in for the afternoon from doing its work!
Tuesday 28th April: We are at the stage where we can see the progress made each day. The walls are getting higher and the layout of the new building is becoming more obvious. Here are a couple of pictures taken today.
This picture clearly shows the stone work on the outside, the block work that will form the inside, with the insulation filling the gap between the two courses. The higher part in the background is the walls that will surround the stairs and the lift.
This picture is taken from the slope looking back towards the school.
The main space on the left of the photograph is what will eventually become Class 1.
This morning another hole was knocked through in Class 5. This will be a doorway into a small room that will create some extra storage for this classroom, as well as be the place that the sprinkler system controls will be housed.
Friday 17th April: The builders have worked on the extention whilst we have enjoyed the Easter holidays. Inside they have erected a floor to ceiling wall in the hall that will protect us from the mess and disruption when the work begins on the alterations to this area. Here's a couple of photographs that shows what they've been up to outside.
This picture is taken from the bottom corner of Class 5. In the background you can see a special vehicle that the builders are using to pump concrete to form the floor. One man stood up on the slope is using a remote control to direct the pump whilst another man holds the end and makes sure the concrete goes where it should. Other men are levelling the floor whilst the concrete is still wet.
In the foreground another group of builders are working on the drainage.
This is a picture of the front of the school taken on the same day. Here you can see the finished floor. You can also see some of the steel structure that helps to form the shape of the extension.
Thursday 2nd April: The foundations are now in and a gang of brick layers are on site beginning to start the walls. It won't be long now before the concrete floors are put down.
Friday 27th March: The retaining wall is now virtually finished. Here's a picture of it taken from the area that will eventually be part of Class 1's outdoor space...
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Tuesday 10th March: Butterworth Lane has been VERY busy over the last couple of days as lorry after lorry has taken away the unwanted stone and rubble. Here's a couple of pictures I took today.
It has been a big job removing the vast amounts of stone, earth and rubble from the site. A convoy of lorries has driven backwards and forwards over the last couple of days. Here's one of them being loaded up.
The retaining wall has begun to be erected. This 'crib' walling will allow plants to be planted in it as well as leaning backwards to allow more light to get to the ground floor of the extention.
Friday 6th March: Here are a couple of photographs from the work recently.
The contractors estimate that more than 300 cubic metres of stone has been removed. There are some serious chunks up on the 'field'.
Class 5 is now completely isolated as you can see from this picture taken from behind the school. Although there will not be much to see over the next few weeks, lots of work will be going on to prepare the foundations for the new buildings.
Wednesday 25th February: Things have moved on over the half term break. Here's a few pictures that highlight what's happened:
The contractors have begun to demolish the link between Class 5 & the hall. This includes the kitchen, so a temporary kitchen has been installed over the half term holidays.
During the break a door was created for Class 5 and some temporary steps fitted. The door will remain once the project has finished and the steps will be replaced by permenant ones.
The Pre School Building has now been demolished and work is underway to dig out and level the area for the extention. There's been a slight snag as they have hit rock whilst doing this important job.
Friday 13th February: While the school enjoys a weeks holiday, the contractors will be working hard to get some key jobs done whilst the children are not in school. In the meantime, here's a few pictures of the progress I took this morning.
This is a view at the front of the school showing the covered walkway that has been created. You can just see the wooden steps that will link Class 5 to the playground via a new door. This should be ready by the end of the half term holidays.
This is the view from the school playground looking behind Class 5. A week ago this was a grass slope! The porta cabin will be demolished very soon as this is where the extension is going to be.
This is the school field(!!!) looking from the top gates. This machine is preparing the space that will eventually become the new carpark. For most of the project it will be the area that the constructors will use as their base. There is a temporary road leading from here down to the actual building site (see the photo above).
Monday 9th February: Things have really started to happen! The weather did not stop the contractors for long. Here's a summary of the things that have begun:
A covered walkway is almost finished at the front of the school. This will allow Class 5 to get to the rest of the school when they become isolated.
A big hole has been dug in front of the main entrance. This area will be 'out of bounds' from now and we are all getting used to how we need to get in and out of the building.
Large machinery is creating the area on the field that will become the carpark. A temporary road is also being created that links this area to the back of the school where the extention will be.
Monday 2nd February: Last week a little bit of work began. The builders created a new gate at the top of the field. They have also been discussing their plans with me and lots of other people who will have some work to do here over the next few weeks. Things have come to a halt already though... because of the snow!
