This Monday the school year 2025-2026 began at CEIP Santa María Magdalena with an extra incentive for the educational community. Students and teachers are enjoying the new facilities after the refurbishment and expansion of the school included in the Edificant Plan, the formula promoted in 2018 by the Conselleria de Educación (Regional Ministry of Education) to speed up pending renovations in educational centres throughout the Comunitat.
The arrival of the youngest pupils went smoothly, although there was a certain amount of excitement in the air to see how the two new buildings, which have been added to the existing ones, had turned out. Although the finishing touches are still to be completed, classes began in the new classrooms this Monday.
The renovation was initiated in July last year by the company BECSA S.A., which had been allocated the contract for €2,277,578.78 (including VAT). The project included the construction of two new annex buildings: one on the north side, which hosts the 3- and 5-year-old nursery classrooms, including bathrooms, and another two-storey building next to the Oratory Jaime Llobell, which houses four primary school classrooms (5th and 6th grade), a multipurpose classroom, and support, music, and computer classrooms.
A kindergarten classroom block was also renovated and converted into a library, the existing school grounds were expanded, the sports field was relocated and enlarged, and a series of urban development works were carried out.
The entire project is expected to be completed in approximately 15 days. The library remains to be completed and some minor finishing touches need to be made. Furthermore, given that the project did not include any work on the exterior, the technical team from the Urban Planning Department is already looking into carrying out future landscaping improvements to unify and beautify the access and surrounding area, from the car parking lot to the entrance, including the children’s playground, with new paving, trees, shaded areas, etc.
‘We are aware that there are still some finishing touches and details to be improved, but we are very excited to finally be able to open these long-awaited facilities that will improve the daily lives of the pupils and teachers of the kindergarten and primary school of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell,’ said the Councillor of Education and Urban Planning, Jorge Pascual. Pascual also reported that the school has organised visits on September 9, 10 and 11 (with shifts according to the grades, between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 and 1:30 p.m.) so that families can see the new facilities.
Both the councillor and the mayor, Miguel Ángel García, visited the site last Friday to inspect the work and noted the requests for improvements made by the management team and teaching staff, some of which were routine maintenance issues and others more structural, such as the installation of shade in the playgrounds, the renovation of the perimeter fencing and the installation of doors in the outdoor area of the new kindergarten classroom block.
