Mission Bookworm: McGinley’s community project renovating a local school

After a lot of hard work, McGinley Support Services’ community project is now complete and we are here to tell you all about it!

While we at McGinley spend much of time recruiting for the infrastructure industry, undertaking engineering projects, and securing top rail sector jobs for the UK’s brightest talent, we also do our part in giving back to the community. Using our knowledge, experience, and expertise in the construction industry, we believe we have done just that.

Entitled ‘Mission Bookworm’, we have undertaken an extensive renovation at a local school, creating a new learning space for students to enjoy for many years to come. McGinley is immensely proud to have been able to support the wonderful community at Park Street C of E Primary and Nursery School in St Albans, working with them to bring about a full renovation of their library.

Operating in tandem, a team of passionate McGinley volunteers, a contractor, and the brilliant school staff (and even some younger volunteers!) set about creating a vibrant and welcoming new learning environment available to the entire student body, including a dedicated technology area focused on encouraging students to participate in STEM learning using new IPads and software provided by McGinley.

Who knows, perhaps some of the next generation's brightest minds in engineering will emerge from Park Street!

Taking just 10 days to complete, and providing day-by-day updates before revealing the project to the world, Team McGinley dedicated themselves to do the best job possible for the children and staff at Park Street. From sanding the walls to painting and building custom fixtures, a lot of work was done in a short amount of time, and the results speak for themselves. You can see images of the library throughout this article.

The team also made sure not to be wasteful during the renovation. Instead of discarding the library’s old fixtures and fittings, they were repurposed and made into a brand-new trophy cabinet and shelving unit. Waste not, want not!

It’s clear that everyone’s hard work really paid off, with both the school and McGinley being tremendously pleased with the results. Hopefully, this new educational space will help inspire students long into the future! We understand the immense importance attached to education and as such, we are honoured to have been able to create and complete this wonderful community project.

For a full reveal of the work done at Park Street, check out the video below which features a tour of the school’s new educational space:

Speaking at the opening event on 17 ^th September, Managing Director, Dermot McGinley, commented that “McGinley is delighted to have had the opportunity to develop such a rewarding community project with Park Street School. In today’s busy, frantic society we should all be doing more to give the next generation a place to think and reflect. By renovating this library we have gone some small way to give them an inviting and engaging environment in which to read and learn. Children are our future and I’d like to think that in some small way we are building the engineers of tomorrow.”

Interview with Wendy-May Foster, the headmistress of Park Street

From our point of view, the project was a big success but what does the school think? After the work had been completed, we spoke with Wendy-May Foster, headteacher of Park Street C of E Primary and Nursery School to get her thoughts on Mission Bookworm.

What were your expectations for the renovation project before it began?

“We were expecting a better use of the space, for it to be more engaging, with easier access to books, and to raise the profile of reading across the school.”

What was the school hoping would result from the revamped space?

“It was our hope that the children would be excited about using the space, recapture their love of reading, and get the teachers to plan the library into their learning week as they can see the value in the new space.”

How have the kids reacted to seeing the new space?

“The kids are excited and have loved the extra little bits such as reading buddies, cushions, bean bags, and really liked the fact that the books are easier to access. The staff have also loved using the area, especially because books are now organised in topics.”

Has the completed renovation of Park Street’s library met the school’s hopes?

“It certainly has. The energy and enthusiasm of your workers Kelly and Rebecca can be seen in the room - their love of reading has really been a driving factor for the learning space. The library looks amazing and is much more organised, at one point we thought it would make a great staff room instead! The space is engaging and vibrant. The children can now see what is on the shelves. Every class has a timetabled slot for the library every day, so reading is a core part of the week now.”

Mission accomplished

Before we leave you, we wanted to express our thanks once again to our volunteers, contractor, the community, and, of course, Park Street C of E Primary and Nursery School.

We hope that the space will prove to be a great tool and resource for the students in the coming year and beyond. McGinley isn’t just a recruitment company or player in the construction industry, we really care about the community that we are a part of and hope to take part in projects such as Mission Bookworm many more times in the future.