Rednock rejoices (From Gazette Series)

Rednock rejoices

THE flags were flying at Rednock School this week following the news that the school had won more than £20 million of government cash for its rebuilding scheme.

The crumbling Dursley secondary school bounced back from the crushing blow of losing out on £7.5 million earlier in the year after hearing on Wednesday that it was in for an even bigger cash bonanza.

Gloucestershire County Council has agreed to allocate Rednock £20.2 million of a recent £100,000 government grant for education in the county.

The school, which is a specialist science college and has around 1,400 students on its register, is popular and oversubscribed yet its buildings are in desperate need of refurbishment.

In October the Gazette launched a Don't Let Rednock Rot! campaign to help the fight for vital funding for the school.

The county council is one of 11 local authorities to receive a government grant to replace one of its secondary schools under the Building Schools for the Future Programme.

Rednock headteacher David Alexander told the Gazette he was delighted with the news.

"We are absolutely delighted - it is fantastic," he said.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to build a state-of-the-art school. The staff, students, parents and the wider community have worked hard for this recognition.

"It is not just in recognition of the poor state of the buildings but what we are doing with the curriculum and what we are doing with the students. It is recognition that we are doing the right thing with education. A major rebuild will be fantastic."

Mr Alexander added his thanks to the Gazette for its part in the campaign.

Chairman of the governors David Martin said: "I am absolutely delighted. Having everybody backing us is very good. The plans will be ready by the end of January so the timing is perfect."

County Councillor Dennis Andrewartha said: "I am absolutely delighted with the news and it couldn't have gone to a better place. The sooner we can get our hands on the money, the sooner we can get on with rebuilding Rednock."

Stroud MP David Drew said: "It has been a long and difficult road but the school deserves it. Now the school has got to get the right plan in place but I congratulate the headteacher, governors and all those associated with the school because they made it possible.

"It is going to be a tight job because it has got to be done by 2008, which is not that long away.

"It will do a lot for Dursley. We've got the Littlecombe development, the supermarket and now the school - there is a lot of development going on in Cam and Dursley. Let's look forward to it and celebrate it."

Cllr Joan Nash, the county council's cabinet member for schools, said: "We are delighted to announce more than £20 million of funding into significantly improving and replacing parts of Rednock School.

"It is an excellent school and very popular with parents. When we heard that the school was unsuccessful with the recent capital bid, we knew we had to act and do something. There will be significant improvements on site and we are hoping to transform the school over the next few years."

Jo Grills, interim director of education at the county council, said: "This is our opportunity to deliver one of our new 'pathfinder' schools to a modern standard.

"The grant must deliver transformational change in one school and we feel that Rednock School will benefit the most from this injection of funding. We have been working with architects on a master plan for the school and now we will finally be able to deliver it.

"We are delighted for everyone involved as this will make a huge difference to staff, pupils and the local community."