By Jamie Beecroft, Year 12
On the day of Thursday the 9th of March, I conducted an interview with Mrs Smith, a key member of LGB’s Physical Education Department. The aim of the meeting was to gain an insight into the new gymnasium which is currently under construction. This building site has been a large source of student inconvenience when traversing across campus between classes. My secondary objective was to figure out if the annoyance that this caused our (ever so) precious Ecolint community will be worth it in the end.
What were the aims and objectives in completely rebuilding the gymnasium from the ground up?
“The previous gym was very old. It leaked, having been built in the 1950s. It also no longer served the purpose of what we needed for sports at LGB anymore. The facilities were too small and not adequate for us to teach the PE that we wanted to teach. So that was the main objective, to build something that we could grow into as well. With more classes, more options for students. Much better facilities. For example, we will have a world-class state-of-the-art fitness suite, which we are currently fundraising for because it was not included in the initial budget. It was something we decided we wanted to do after. It will be incredible. Available to be used by the entire community. Even primary school (students) can use it. So it’s not just for adolescents and up, like most fitness suites. This (gym) will be for everyone. Really interactive. And also (we) will have a world-class gymnastics suite. Same the fitness area, it was put into the plans after the building began. We are fundraising for that, but we will get there. The fact that we will be going from two sports halls and two small gyms to then five sports halls and two medium-sized gyms, in addition to a gymnastics suite and our climbing wall, means that we can have many more classes coming over. The primary school kids can use it. Bigger events can be run in the sports buildings. The options that we have are endless, really.”
Will the outdoor basketball court where one of the temporary gyms is located be completely reinstated?
“The (future of the) basketball is something I am not sure about, not being responsible for that. We’ve had some brief discussions, and I have enforced that I want basketball nets to be put there. Whether or not it will be a full court set up, or it will be something on which only half-court games can be played is something we are not sure about. It seems more likely to be the latter. This is due to there being some discussion about converting it into a track and field area where we can have a proper high jump set up along with a nicer long jump set-up. This will not take up all the space (from where the basketball courts used to be). It will be returned to a recreational space, hopefully with basketball courts. We, of course, understand that basketball is a really big sport in this school and we want students to be able to play it. Hopefully, as the tent is taken off it can return to the communal area that it used to be. The tent will be removed around October time and the surface will be redone since the surface was not great before, it became quite slippery when wet.”
So there will also be construction being done in this area as well?
“Yes, but it will take place over the October break. As far as I am aware…”
What date is it on track to be finished?
“We have the handover of the keys scheduled for mid-August. So we will be teaching there from the start of school (2023-2024).”
By next year I will be a year 13 student, and will therefore not have PE class. Does this mean I will not have the opportunity to use these facilities?
“Year 13s will not have scheduled PE class, but there will be times during the week when we make it available to year 13s only. It is what we used to do. We will have specific times, depending on when suits in their schedule, where Y13s can come and use it like a sports facility. (…). It can become a really nice community event. Of course, there will be a lot more opportunities for students to come during their free time due to all the extra space. We will have specific times allocated to (coaches) overseeing the fitness room in case people want personal training. I do personal training outside of school; so it’s something I’m really passionate about, and that I’d love to do with the year 13s. This is so that they can take it away to use outside of school as well.”
Will year 13 students need to book times to use the gymnasium?
“It will be on the schedule for certain times when teachers and spaces are available, and then you can see how your schedule works out with that. But once we get the schedule and can see where most of the time comes up. The necessity to book mostly depends on what you want to do. If you want to use the fitness room, then you can come when you want and it is not being used. We will make it known to y13s, of when the fitness suite is not being used so that they can work it out with their timetable.”
Does all this new space mean there will be an increase in the number of sporting events being held on campus?
“We’re going to do more inter-campus events, amongst the whole of the Ecolint community. We’re also hoping, at the lunchtime slots, to offer basketball tournaments. Things like that, which can be run more by students, and overseen by staff. All this is so that there are more activities happening throughout the school day that aren’t necessarily curriculum PE. We will now have the possibility to host international-level basketball games because the basketball court that will be set up in the triple gym at the bottom adheres to the size regulations that are required to host international matches. Same for gymnastics, and netball. We have a few sports where we can bring in high-level competition, available to be watched by the community. It is possible for us to seat 1’000 people in 7 mins.”
Special thanks to Mrs Smith for lending me a precious time out of her busy schedule to speak to me. She allowed me to gain great insight into the subject of my inquisition. I now thoroughly look forward to being able to use these facilities during my final year at this school.
