An open letter to
All the premises staff
All the cleaning staff
All the IT staff
The extra fetchers and carriers drafted in Hobson & Porter Ltd and all their sub-contractors
EC Harris Ltd
Broadway Malyan Ltd
All the teaching and other staff who donned their scruff and got behind a sack barrow or a trolley
And – working with them all – Alan Woodcock, Director of Resources
Dear all,
Thank you.
There were just two short weeks either side of Easter for us to get out of the old buildings and into Oak. You did a magnificent job. Rarely has so much been transferred by so few and so fast!
On Monday, 12th April, students arrived to use Oak for the first time. There was stunned gazing. There was wild exploring. There was a certain tendency to open-mouthedness. “Wow” was in everyone’s mind and on the lips of many. After 5 years of planning, several life-times of design meetings and, for this last one, 20 months of construction, the buildings of Wyke are now entirely renewed. You made it all possible. At different ways and at various times, you did the hard graft and the subtle thinking. It’s down to you that it has proved a resounding – well acoustically controlled, actually – success.
Oak is a delight to work in. The library is everything we planned for: always full and always quiet and purposeful. The refectory is beautiful – and always has room to sit. The theatre is stunning and the sports hall beautiful and BIG. More than anything people comment on the light and space. The building has subtle moods and aspects. It changes from moment to moment during the day. May it do so for many years and for generations of learning young people.
Yours very very sincerely,
Dick Smith
