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Issue 53 – June 2015 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
Most of you will have noticed that the Pre-School has been temporarily relocated and their old
building, Gibb House, demolished during the April Holidays. This brought the use of our last
“non-purpose built building” at Queen Margaret College to a somewhat crashing end - to the
delight of both the Board of Governors and staff. When I made this comment at our recent
Annual General Meeting of College, I was, however, gently reminded that the Tower Block was
only “purpose re-built”, given its original construction as part of the grand family home which
formed the foundation of our College. Such is our history.
The building known asGibbHousewas a former two bedroom
home. Built in 1929, it was purchased by the school in the
early 1980s and refurbished for the Junior School in 1986.
It was further updated in 2003 when a small Pre-School licensed
for 17 students was established in one of the downstairs classrooms
with an adjacent Year 1 class. In 2008, with the extension of the ECE
licence to allow for 30 students, all the space in Gibb House was
then occupied by the Pre-School. While, as part of our assessment
of all school buildings for earthquake code compliance, we were
pleased to see that Gibb House was above required code, the Board
considered undertaking some additional work on Gibb House. As
we looked at that work, we also looked at the opportunity to enhance
the learning environment as well. With “new” definitely being better
than “re-built old” in this instance, we have worked with McKenzie
Higham Architects to design a new purpose-built Pre-School. With
Maycroft Construction delivering the build, the College is looking
forward to the project’s completion in the next six months. In the
meantime I want to thank the Pre-School and Junior School families
for their patience during the building process.
With a “bigger, brighter, better” facility, we have also had the
opportunity to consider the overall operation of our Pre-School and
how it can best serve the needs of our parents. To that end, I also
wish to advise that, after receiving feedback from parents and staff,
we are extending enrolment in the Pre-School to include a small
number of boys aged 3 and 4. These places will be limited to those
boys who have a connection with the College, such as a sibling of a
current QMC student or the son of a staff member. When the new
Pre-School opens in October it will accommodate 40 children and
From the Board
also the hours will be extended in the morning to a 7.30am start.
Again, this adjustment in hours is as a result of parental request. I
am delighted that we will be able to support our community in these
positive ways.
Progress is key at Queen Margaret College; this is why the
Board has also given the go ahead for the re-development of Science
Labs. Carol Craymer and Alison Stevens, our Head of Science, are
currently working with a designer on this refurbishment so that it
meets the needs of teachers and students alike. We will have more
news about the timing of this work later.
Little steps along our journey to excellence.
Paul Foley