Owing to a generous donation from an educational trust, the Jakobs Foundation and the Barkway Stud, Barkway and Barley schools are able to share a classroom bus which not only provides vitally needed transport between the two collaborating schools but also an excellent state of the art mobile classroom. The bus started out as a plain empty Citroen van but quickly took shape under expert fitters in Stoke. Fitted with the latest Apple technology, the bus has screens and projectors for children to display the work from their ipads and tables on which to work. There is power on board and heating so the bus can go anywhere with the children, their teacher and bus passenger assistant, making a classroom that can be used equally well in a city centre, field, forest or any other landscape.
The bus is often used at the Newsells wild life area, located between Barkway and Barley. It has been to various museums including Duxford Museum, to railway stations, to Royston Heath and to the Essex School to name but a few destinations.