School rebuilding programme is agreed (From Gazette Series)

School rebuilding programme is agreed

8:50am Wednesday 26th November 2008 in

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A SCHOOL rebuilding programme has been agreed, putting Chipping Sodbury School at the top of the list for improvements.

Work will start in 2012 on demolishing half of the dilapidated school buildings and salvaging the other 50 per cent to transform the school into a state-of-the-art modern learning centre.

Staff, parents and pupils are delighted at the announcement, which came following discussions at a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s ruling cabinet on Monday.

Headteacher Philip Lidstone said: ""This is great news for the whole community."

The council put Chipping Sodbury School in the first wave of schools to be rebuilt under the Government’s Building Schools for the Future initiative.

Work will start on phase two in 2015 and on phase three, which includes The Ridings High School in Winterbourne in 2017. Brimsham Green School, the newest school in the Yate and Chipping Sodbury area, is included in phase four when the rebuilding programme will start in 2019.

At the meeting, Cllr Ruth Davis (Lib Dem, Yate Central) said she welcomed the priority list.

"I don’t think anybody would not want money to be spent on their school," she said.

"I also welcome the news that King Edmund Community School, in Yate, will be a top priority if it is not rebuilt through the academy scheme."

Figures have not yet been released on how much the Chipping Sodbury School rebuild will cost but a total of £80million will be spent on phase one – Chipping Sodbury, Patchway Community College, Kingsfield School and the relocation of a pupil referral unit at Patchway.

In total, £300million will be spent on new schools throughout the district and the council is expected to pay 10 per cent of the costs.

Therese Gillespie, director of education and young people, said: "I need to stress the affordability issue.

"We are bidding for £80million (for phase one) but there is likely to be an affordability gap and it will fall to the council to have strategies to deal with that."

She added: "When we say it is a high priority we mean we have taken into account all the circumstances the school finds itself in.

"It is a high priority of this council to raise standards at all schools."

Cllr Roger Coales (Lab, Woodstock) said: "Getting schools in order of priority is always difficult and there will always be schools which want rebuilding first.

"This exercise has forced schools to think about what a school should look like in 2020.

"It has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for most headteachers and a really good opportunity."