Community benefits from new high school sports hall

By Tim Gibbs, Headteacher, Reepham High School & College
 
You may be aware that there are early plans to build a new sports hall at Reepham High School & College. This would be fantastic, as we are one of the few high schools in the area without one.
 

Tim Gibbs. Photo: RHSC

 
When I joined RHSC in 1996, I was told by my predecessor, Mike Rowson, that the current sports hall was built in the early 1970s, half-sized, with a plan to extend it fully in the future. Clearly, that never happened, so we are left with what is, frankly, not a great facility.
 
Subsequently, it could be easily argued that every sport we play in that hall is compromised, and therefore the physical education of our pupils is compromised too; this is not acceptable for our young people.
 
A new sports hall would be fantastic for the area, as we fully intend to make it a joint school and community use facility.
 
We currently sit in the middle of an area without a sports hall, surrounded by other towns and schools with such a facility, all of which cannot be called “local”. This is clearly unfair on our pupils – and the wider community.
 
It would be wonderful to see local sports teams and clubs using the new sports hall out of school hours, and it becoming a key sporting hub for Reepham and the surrounding area.
 
Fortunately, we enjoy a huge school playing field, which has been in existence since the opening of Reepham College more than ten years ago, so the news sports hall can be placed perfectly for easy access for community use – without compromising the security of the school site.
 
There would also be other knock-on benefits of this new accommodation, as our plan would be to turn the old hall into an impressive performing arts facility, again with the potential for community use.
 
In summary, a new sports hall would represent an important and long overdue improvement to the school and community’s sporting life.
 
But, from a headteacher’s point of view, please understand the main aim of a new sports hall is to ensure our community’s young people can be involved in a truly first-class physical education experience, as we try to equip them for an active, happy and healthy life.
 
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