Sheffield school gets ‘grand’ opening at long last

To mark the occasion, an activities-themed celebration took place on Thursday.

The new school was completed just before Christmas 2020, however due to Covid restrictions it has been unable to hold the long overdue opening event.

Earldom Road – ‘the hill’ – leading to the school was closed to all but residential traffic for the day, giving the pupils an opportunity to enjoy using this newly car-free zone for fun physical activities.

Principal Bee Wood said: “This grand opening marks the start of an exciting chapter for Byron Wood and we wanted to do something memorable for our celebration.

“We work hard to teach the children the importance of being active to stay healthy and so we are very grateful to the council for closing the road.

“It has given us a fantastic opportunity to run physical activities that will help the pupils see the hill as a fun challenge and encourage them to consider other ways – running, skipping and cycling – to get up it rather than using the car.”

The school was formally opened by Rowena Hackwood, chief executive officer of Astrea Academy Trust, with local residents invited for refreshments.

The arrival of an ice cream van as a treat for all the pupils.

Work on the new building officially started in October 2019.

The existing school was built in the 1930s as a secondary school and was converted to a middle school in the 1960s.

In 1991 it joined with Ellesmere Nursery to become Byron Wood School and in 2016 it became an Academy.