Southsea school celebrates opening of new £700k building

Mayville High School in Portsmouth unveiled its new senior school hub yesterday, coinciding with the institution’s 120th anniversary.

The building in St Simon’s Road, Southsea, is called Michael Babcock House and has taken almost a year to transform.

And yesterday pupils were given their first glimpse of it.

Among those celebrating the opening of the site was Susan Roper, who was Mayville’s head girl in 1952.

Pensioner Mrs Roper, of North End, was stunned by the revamped building – formally the school’s nursery site.

She said: ‘The new classrooms are marvellous; they’re quite different from my day.

‘It was all desks and ink wells and boys putting stink bombs in the ink wells.

‘But it’s wonderful. The only things familiar from my day are the uniforms – they haven’t changed.’

The revamp was part of the school’s efforts to address rising pupil numbers and improve its facilities.

The block has been named after Michael Babcock, chairman of the school’s trustees who was responsible for the build.

He was delighted with the results and said: ‘We had a demand on the number of pupils at the school – it was virtually full.

‘We have now expanded the school across all areas. The senior department was the last to be modernised.’

He added: ‘This is securing the education of pupils for generations to come.’

The building has a hall, new classrooms, a design technology workshop, a student common room and an IT suite.

It’s hoped it will improve the lives of Year 11 pupils who will be based in the block.

Headteacher Rebecca Parkyn said: ‘This is a significant step forward for the school in its development programme and staff and pupils will benefit hugely from the new building.

‘Mayville is thriving as we continue to step up our educational provision.’