5 Island schools could be in line for major rebuilding or refurbishment works that will transform education for their pupils.
St George’s Special School, The Bay CE School (secondary site), Nine Acres Primary School, Hunnyhill Primary School, and Medina College have been provisionally prioritised for the government’s flagship School Rebuilding Programme.
Today’s (Friday) announcement could potentially represent a multi-million-pound investment in Island education, providing hundreds of children access to new, modern classrooms.
It follows a series of successful applications by the Isle of Wight Council to the Department for Education (DfE), which invited local authorities all across the country to bid for funding.
Welcoming the news, Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet member for education, said:
“I’m absolutely delighted that five Island schools have been provisionally allocated a place on the School Rebuilding Programme.
“We very much hope that it will provide us with the necessary investment to build the best possible environment in which our children can learn, play and thrive and in which our teachers can deliver the highest quality teaching.”
The school rebuilding programme was launched last year and will see 500 schools across the country partially or fully rebuilt over a ten-year period.
The new buildings will be more energy efficient for future winter resilience and net-zero in operation, with old facilities replaced by modern education environments.
Island MP, Bob Seely, said:
“I am delighted Isle of Wight schools look set to benefit from the latest round of the School Rebuilding Programme. Well done to all those involved in the bidding process.
“I look forward to hearing more from the department about these proposals in due course.”
Lets hope they are done better than the ones Mcalpine have done on the island.
Bonkers and great, let’s have best school buildings and classrooms at huge expense – but limited teachers and poor quality of education!. Like buying latest fire engine £375,000 but no fireman to drive or use.
Do you mean Bembridge in your ref to fire engine no driver? Sadly all too wealthy there to want to take on the role it seems
The hard but unpalatable truth is special schools need only minimal expenditure, as so long as each student leaves with the basics, the state will fund them all for the rest of time.
Money and resources should be prioritised to those who will achieve for they are the ones who will be keeping the former by paying in to the system, not constantly draining it imo.
Of course those with specials will disagree but they deep down know it to be so as the one in a thousand who will gain useful help and perhaps become a asset to society will never cover the 999 who won’t.
In hard pushed times tough but logical choices should be made
Les, a breath of fresh air posting.
Society has for far too long now funded the nere do wells in society, which is acceptable in boom times, but certainly not as we rush headlong into the deepest living standard drop for decades.
Problem being that the funding for those who are likely to be a permanent drain on society is ring fenced. So their standard of life, despite being the least useful members of society never drops and is always at the forefront of any increases.
The whole system now needs overhauling to ensure that those with a future who will be an asset to the country are treated, encouraged and funded first and foremost, and others who will only ever take should have their income slashed to fund the hand that feeds
For too long now parents of unfortunate children, even though no fault of their own have dumped a costly burden on the rest of us for their entire lives & have had too much given to raise their offspring.
They expect them to attend normal schools, often adding a huge cost to have main stream schools altered, just so one or two joey’s can perhaps learn a little.
Surely these children should be in one school for a couple of days a week only & have cheap laptops to try to give home instruction to give them something to do on the others days.
They are usually disruptive and as the parents of such are overly paid by the state as it is, should give up their time to try to educate what ‘they’ have bought into the world.