Haygrove School: condemned main building to be knocked down and re-built

Local leaders have been expressing their thoughts, now we know the condemned building at Haygrove School in Bridgwater will be knocked down and rebuilt.

We learnt earlier this year that pupils would not all return to the site when term began, after the main school building was condemned as unsafe.

The school say they're 'delighted' that the DfE has confirmed the funding for the work after it was confirmed that the main school building needed to be wrapped and scaffolded, and a five-metre safety zone placed around it after 'rigorous' assessments just before the start of term.

You can read more about the issues which faced the school here.

An 'important and, hopefully exciting update'

In a statement sent to parents last week, the school said: "We are writing to you with an important and, hopefully, exciting update about the future of Haygrove School. We are delighted to share with you all that the Department for Education (DfE) has now confirmed that funding will be made available to rebuild the entire Haygrove School. Whilst this is excellent news for our school community, we do not yet have any further details available beyond that.

"We are currently engaging with the DfE on details such as timescales and the location of the new buildings and will update on this as soon as we have any further confirmed information. What is clear at this point is that the existing main building will not be used again in the future and that the whole school, rather than just that block, is going to receive significant investment from the DfE, for which we are very grateful.

"We will continue to work closely with the DfE and advocate, as always, to have the needs of our students, staff and local community at the heart of every decision.

"We are currently waiting on further information from the DfE and will share further news with you as we receive it.

"Whilst there is still much more detail yet to be decided, we are pleased to be able to share this positive next step for our school and our community with you all. We are grateful for the support we have had from the DfE and the local authority throughout this unprecedented situation.

"We can’t thank you all enough for the ongoing support, resilience and commitment you have shown throughout this process. As we stated in August, we are very much looking forward to having an excellent school building which our community is proud of, and we are so pleased to be able to finally share the first step to achieving this with you all."

'I am pleased the government has finally done what is right'

Local representative Cllr Lee Redman said: "I am pleased that the government has finally stood up and done what is right, but it will not help those young people that have had 2 rounds of disruption to their education and are now having to make unnecessary journeys or be educated in temporary buildings while this known catastrophe is sorted, the government should have listened to the head sooner.

"I hope the young peoples education is not impacted by this issue"

Local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has also expressed his 'delight' at the news.

He hailed the ‘magnificent teamwork’ that has led the Government to announce the building of a replacement Haygrove School in Bridgwater.

He said staff, governors and local authority officials had worked tirelessly to secure the investment, after the existing main building was condemned and closed in September.

'The obvious and most sensible solution'

Ian Liddell-Grainger added: "Since the closure of the structure - built only three years ago - there have been huge logistical problems for head teacher Aaron Reid and his team.

"But the Department for Education has now confirmed that the structural faults are too many and too severe to be fixed.

"So a new school will be built on land at Queenswood Farm, which is already in the ownership of Somerset Council.

"The announcement is the best Christmas present staff, students and parents could wish for.

“This is the obvious and most sensible solution to the problems at Haygrove and I am deeply grateful to the Government for recognising the reality of the current situation and deciding that a new Haygrove must be built from scratch.

“But there has been some magnificent teamwork on several fronts to argue the case for a new school - and current and future Haygrove students should be deeply grateful that they have such a dedicated and supportive team of staff and governors who have been prepared to fight so resolutely to provide a better educational future for them all.”