Accessible Performance Hall
A fabulous new fully accessible Communication and Performing Arts Hall
At Treloar’s, we aim to prepare our young people for adult life giving them the confidence and skills to achieve their full potential.
Participation in communication and performing arts activities plays a significant role in this aim and is hugely important to the education, employability, confidence and life skills of our students. Despite the steady increase in the complexity of students’ needs all of our young people are encouraged and given the opportunities to join in with these activities. Modern technologies and voice output / augmentative alternative communication (AAC) devices now enable even the most challenged students to take part.
Unfortunately our older facilities on campus like the Florence Treloar Hall have been failing to keep up with the pace of change. The previous premises made simple tasks like entering and exiting our performance Hall, getting students on and off the stage, utilising the sound system and controlling the temperature extremely challenging. Sadly there became too many barriers that were preventing our students from effectively using the Hall.
Due to these challenges, we realised that a significant refurbishment was required to transform our performance space, allow all of our students to take part in communication activities, music and performing arts, including those who rely on their AAC devices.
With your support
Thanks to the support of generous donors we were able to raise over £150,000, including an incredible £100,000 grant from Constable Educational Trust, and turn this dream into a reality. These funds enabled us to refurbish the Florence Treloar Hall to include accessible stage ramps, automatically controlled doors, installation of a new air-conditioning system to support students who are unable to regulate their body temperature, a new sound system that will particularly benefit students who use communication devices, and of course dramatically improving the aesthetics of the Hall to help bring performances to life.
Here’s what Leon, one of our school students thinks about the new Hall;
Thank you for your donations to the refurbishment of the Florence Treloar Hall. Everything looks so clean and modern and more accessible for us students. We have used it for assembly and bell ringing. It makes you feel relaxed and happy.
The students were also delighted to welcome our Royal Patron Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, to campus to conduct the official opening of our newly refurbished Hall and to hear the first on stage performance.
We work very hard to ensure all our students have opportunities to perform and show off their skills and talents to others, whether it is in a weekly assembly, Christmas show or summer musical production. It is wonderful that the Florence Treloar Hall has now been refurbished and adapted to work for the specific needs of our students, and provide them a space to really shine!
Music Director Jocelyn Watkins