Back to the future for King Alfred students as they bury time capsule on old school grounds

- 30 Apr 19

King Alfred’s Academy students have been considering what life will be like in 50 years’ time after they buried a time capsule at Bovis Homes’ new East Gate location in Wantage.

A group of Year 7 and 8 students from the Oxfordshire school joined representatives from Bovis Homes to bury an array of objects, letters and documents, which will not be dug up until 2069!

Not only were the pupils thinking about the future, but they were also reflecting on the past, as the capsule was buried on land which used to be in the school grounds, and which will now be part of the new neighbourhood.

“We’re opening a new chapter in Wantage with our East Gate location and it’s fascinating to think what the community will be like in 50 years’ time,” says Bovis Homes regional marketing manager, Stephanie Spry. “The children selected some great objects which gives a real snapshot into daily life as a student in 2019.”

The pupils, who are all in the Humanities afterschool club, selected a variety of everyday school objects to put in the capsule, including a school newsletter, text books and a homework planner. In addition to this, the students wrote a letter which discussed their daily life and also touched on current issues, such as the drive to reduce the use of plastics.

“We’d like to thank Bovis Homes for giving us this opportunity. It was a great project for the students to get stuck in to and they have been so excited about it,” says Hannah Johnson, teacher at King Alfred’s School. “They put a lot of effort into thinking about what objects to include in the capsule and they all worked together to write the letter.”

“It was difficult to find lots of objects – but we went around the whole school to collect them,” says Year 8 student, Lauren Davies. “I don’t think children will be using planners in 50 years’ time – I think this will be really different. Instead of having these notebooks, students will probably have a handheld electronic device to write down their homework and see their class timetable.”

King Alfred School used to be situated over three locations around Wantage, but last year, the East Site was sold to Bovis Homes to bring 150 new homes to the town. The school has invested in a building programme at its remaining two locations, Centre Site on Portway and West Site on Challow Road.

“It’s really interesting to see how much has changed here!” says Hannah. “I think the sales centre is about where the staff room was situated, and we had two modular school buildings close to where the show home is. It was quite a sight to see transported away!”

Bovis Homes is launching two new show homes on Saturday 4th May and is inviting members of the public to visit to take a look around and find out more. The two-bedroom Holly and the three-bedroom Beauchamp are from Bovis Homes’ brand-new housing range which was launched this year. All visitors to the event, which takes place from 10am until 5pm, will have the opportunity to take part in a prize-draw to win a European city break.

To find out more, visit www.bovishomes.co.uk or contact the team on 01235 375005 or email wantage.sales@bovishomes.co.uk  

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