Castletown's long-serving former MHK, Tony Brown OBE, is to formally open an extension at Victoria Road Primary School next month.
Mr Brown, who represented Castletown in the House of Keys for 30 years, was a pupil at the school in the late 1950s and early 1960s and has maintained lifelong links.
He will unveil a plaque at an event being held at 3.30pm on Wednesday 5 February to commemorate the addition of classrooms, a multi-purpose hall and improvements throughout the school.
An open afternoon will precede the ceremony and the public is invited into school from 3pm to see the new facilities.
The £3.2million project was carried out by Auldyn Construction and was completed in phases, with the hall coming into use in March 2013 and with overall completion in September 2013.
Mr Brown – who was the Island’s Chief Minister for the five years prior to his retirement from politics in 2011 – said he was delighted to be asked to carry out the formalities at the school he and his son and daughter attended.
He started visiting the school in an official capacity when he chaired Castletown Commissioners and, throughout his time as MHK for Castletown, he gave talks to pupils and arranged visits to Legislative Buildings. He is a long-serving school governor and, with his wife, Rachel, he has rarely missed an event such as a concert or a fund-raiser.
Mr Brown said:
‘I was very much involved, along with the other governors, in developing and progressing the scheme, providing advice to the school and colleague governors on how best to advance the project to achieve an early start.
‘I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to open the extension. I feel very proud and honoured to have been chosen, especially being a former pupil and as someone who has retained a keen interest in, and enjoyed being involved with, the school.
‘The facilities provided by the extension are a fabulous asset to the school and, most importantly, provide excellent new provisions for the pupils, the staff and Castletown as a whole.’
Ian Postlethwaite, acting Headteacher at the 217-pupil school, said:
‘The additional classrooms have provided spacious learning environments for our rising pupil numbers and the new Reception classroom and outdoor area development has made a huge difference to what we offer in the Foundation stage.
‘We are all delighted with our fabulous new hall. It has provided the children and staff with many more opportunities in terms of physical, creative and personal development and, more recently at Christmas, provided an excellent performance space.
‘The children were in awe when they saw the hall for the first time and really enjoyed the two major productions we have staged, neither of which would have been possible without the new lighting and sound equipment and stage area/community room.’
