Students renovate workshop for boat restoration

It was a proud moment for students at Acle High School in the heart of the Broads, who for the last six months have turned their hands to renovating a tumble down shed to enable them to restore boats.
On Friday 13 May 30 boys and girls and their teachers celebrated the official opening of the workshop by two of the students involved in the twin projects. Sixteen-year-old Tom Barnes from Wickhampton, who spent 40 hours helping to rebuild the shed, and 12-year-old Daniel Rowe from Halvergate, representing the boat restoration crew, cut the ribbon.

The completion of the shed is a milestone in the school’s boat restoration project which is being financed with a £15,400 grant from the Broads Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund. The project was overseen by ASDAN tutor Jeremy Bryant who has taught the students the practical skills needed as part of a life skills and vocational alternative curriculum. “The students have all worked very hard for two terms, as well as at lunchtimes and after school,” said Mr Bryant. “Tom Barnes and Shane Haines came in over their October half-term holiday to help lay the concrete floor. They have learnt a lot of practical skills such as joinery, carpentry and team building. Now they not only have something to be proud of but we have somewhere we can work on the boats during the winter.” While the shed was being built 12 students have been learning boat building skills by restoring a dinghy and working on a wooden half-decker sailing boat lent by Ludham Bridge boat yard. Supervised by science teacher and sailor Ian Ayres and Technology Technician Jim Bondi they have replaced the floor of the 8ft clinker style dinghy with teak decking donated by Brooms Boats, fitted two stubb keels and recycled the old school tug of war rope into a rubbing strake.v “They have come up with some very good workmanship,” said Mr Bondi. For the future the school has a 22ft wooden Seagull boat bought on Ebay to work on as well as a Mirror dinghy. Several of the students said they had learnt team building and practical skills and the experience had whetted their appetite for boating. Fifteen-year-old Fiona Lee from Freethorpe had painted and put up featheredge boards, broken up pavement slabs and helped lay the shed’s concrete floor. “It has been a very good experience and it’s not something I am going to easily forget,” she said. “It will help my grades and it’s been fun at the same time. I’ve enjoyed learning and understanding how to build things.”