Bridgewater School is a two-form entry state school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, providing primary education and nursery for 458 children.

We are seeking support for an exciting project to rebuild the former caretaker’s bungalow on the school site, which will enable us to:

1.  Improve the outcomes for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) through dedicated, quiet space to support learning, social and emotional needs.

2. Support academic, social and emotional post-pandemic recovery, through the ability to increase the number of meaningful interventions to bridge learning gaps and reduce the impact on our children's mental health. We need to support pupils demonstrating a significant increase in anxiety levels, anger issues and school refusal, due to the impact of the pandemic on their learning, social and emotional development.

3. Increase the provision of consistent wraparound care, enabling more parents and carers to return to work. Currently the school can only support a limited number of children in the school with wraparound care places due to space and capacity limitations. With the additional space on the site of the former caretaker’s bungalow, Bridgewater could support more families and children by offering additional before and after school care places.

4. Provide a meeting space to benefit the local community and wider community groups. We have amazing grounds and we are adjacent to beautiful countryside and this building would allow us to share these facilities with community groups, for the benefit of both children and adults.

The bungalow is currently in a very poor and deteriorating condition. Renovation would require considerable investment and we feel that the most cost-effective option would be to demolish it and create a purpose built, flexible building, which will be able to meet the needs of the school now, and in the future.

We have called the building “The Haven at Bridgewater”. It will be a peaceful place providing support to our pupils, their families and the wider community.