WELLINGTON School has taken ownership of the former Salvation Army Hall and King’s Church building in the town. The hall, which sits on the edge of the school’s campus, will be re-developed to create a nursery unit for two year olds, scheduled to open in September.

“Its location is ideal for us.” said Adam Gibson, headmaster of Wellington Prep School. “The building has an important history and with our nursery plans, the building has an exciting future for the school and the town.”

The new nursery will extend the school’s age range to two year olds and the facility will be open for 50 weeks a year, enabling all pre-school children at the school to have access to year round care and education.

The space inside the stone building presents a blank canvas and designs are already in place to create state-of-the-art learning spaces, indoors and outdoors, for the children.

Jim Pendleton, estates manager at the school, said: “We are in touch with local suppliers and manufacturers who will be working with us to develop this wonderful building. The space inside and out will be developed to be among the best of its kind.”

The old chapel’s location at the edge of the school’s campus means access to the new nursery will be re-configured. “Changing the access point for parents will mean that the nursery doesn’t cause any additional traffic on Scott’s Lane,” said Mr Pendleton. “It also means that we can use some of the school’s existing land to create additional outside play space for the nursery.”

The new nursery will be relatively small with capacity for just over 20 children. “We made a determined choice to keep the numbers low in order to maintain the outstanding quality of Early Years care for which we are known,” said Mr Gibson.

“From our parents’ point of view being able to offer year round care is a great option, especially as the number of families in the town is continuing to grow. The number of registrations that we have already received suggests that there will be a great deal of demand for places.”

The months ahead will see the re-design of the old chapel into the town’s newest nursery.