By Press Release
Past pupils, teachers and Yarmouth residents were given the opportunity to have one final look inside the school before the building is demolished.
There were two sessions, morning and afternoon, and visitors could reminisce on their memories of the now-empty classrooms and gymnasium.
A ‘Working Group’ has been set up, following two earlier meetings in the town, involving local people, to discuss the future of the school site after pupils moved to the new school at Freshwater at the start of the new term. The school was opened in 1854 and the building had a covenant on it. But this was transferred to the council by the Church of England diocese in August 2021, while the playing fields were taken over in 2008.
The site is currently an ‘asset of community value’ and cannot be sold until later in the year. Locals are looking at ways of raising enough money to keep it out of developers’ hands.
It has been revealed that, as part of the contract with the Department for Education for the £4 1/2 million new Freshwater school funding, the council must sell the site for the best price. From the profit of the sale, £400,000 will go towards the cost of the new build school and the remaining cash will go to the Department of Education. Campaigners claim this was not revealed by the previous Conservative administration at County Hall.
The Working Group has met three times in the last four weeks and will continue to invite people from the community who are helping formulate a plan and business case for retaining the site as a local community asset.
Among the guests during the visits were Bob Seely MP and IW Councilors Debbie Andre and Peter Spink.
Views on the building’s future can be emailed to Yarmouth Town Council on ytc1135@gmail.com, or call 527093.
Pictured: Some ‘working party’ members: John Caulcutt, Thomas Cowley, Bob Cronin, Michael Cooke, Freddie Russell, Terry Kelsey, Louise Metcalfe, Debbie Andre, Adrian Evans and Steve Cowley
Tilly Walder 
Mal Butler