Three South Ribble schools to get "state of the art" rebuilds after securing share of £1bn Government cash

Penwortham Girls’ High School, Wellfield Academy and Lostock Hall Moor Hey School have all been named in the of the latest School Rebuilding Programme, which will fund rebuilds or refurbishments that will transform education for pupils.

What do the schools say?

A spokesman for Moor Hey, a special school for boys and girls aged from four to 16, said: “We received the fantastic news yesterday that Moor Hey has been successfully selected for the school rebuilding programme. This is an amazing opportunity for our next chapter, as in the near future we will be re-branding to Applebee Wood Community Specialist School.

"We feel that this exciting prospect will allow us to offer a more modern facility. This will further support our pupils in the already established caring and nurturing environment, whilst providing them with the very best educational provision they deserve.

"We believe that this will provide the best environment for our staff to be able to continue the amazing work that they already do for the Moor Hey community.”

Neither Wellfield Academy or Penwortham Girls’ were available for comment.

The schools receiving funding in this round follow Tarleton Academy and Seven Stars Primary School in Leyland which have previously received cash from the Government to improve the life chances of children in South Ribble.

>>>This is what is happening in the £21m Tarleton Academy rebuild

What does it mean?

The Department of Education has not yet released exact details on how much funding each school will receive, or what the package will mean, but funding has previously included updating and modernising buildings and creating state of the art facilities such as new sports halls, music rooms, science labs, and dining areas.

Work is expected to start immediately and the Government said the buildings will be net-zero carbon in operation.

What does the MP think?

South Ribble MP Katherine Fletcher said: “We have such incredible schools in our community, and I am always blown away by the ambition and drive of the pupils whenever I go and visit.

“I have been pushing for funding for South Ribble so I am delighted that our schools have been chosen to get the refurbishments that they deserve.

“With the new facilities and a new inspiring learning environment, it will make such a difference to the lives of pupils and their teachers.”

How many schools are benefitting nationally?

In total, 61 schools will be rebuilt as part of this announcement.

There are 11 schools in the North West, 10 in the North East and six in Yorkshire and the Humber, with those in South Ribble the only schools named in Lancashire.

Secretary of State for Education, James Cleverly, said: “Our School Rebuilding Programme is already making a difference to the lives of pupils and their teachers. It is creating greener school sites that are fit for the future and that local communities can be proud of.

“We know how important it is to have high-quality school facilities. That is why we continue to invest billions in our rebuilding programme.”

Why are the unions sounding a note of caution?

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said that while the programme was “welcome”, 2022 capital funding for schools was £1.9 billion less than it had been in 2009 in real terms, and that the investment needed to be compared with what had been cut, “which is 50 times larger”.

“Capital spending was the largest cut to education and was imposed immediately after the 2010 election. If the Government had not cut Labour’s school rebuilding programme, £27 billion more would have been spent on school and college buildings,” he said.

He added that a National Audit Office report of 2017 had shown that £6.7 billion was needed to restore all school buildings to a satisfactory condition “and a further £7.1 billion to bring parts of school buildings from a satisfactory to good condition”.

“The NEU believes these figures are likely to be an underestimate as they were formed from the DfE’s 2014 Property Data Survey, so parts of the school estate will have deteriorated further since then.

“This 2014 survey also did not take asbestos into account, so these figures make no assessment of the cost of asbestos management and removal.

“Sixty per cent of schools were built before 1976 and around 85 per cent of schools contain asbestos, which not only makes them more difficult and expensive to maintain, but a riskier environment to work or learn in.”