Legacy of closed school debt 'unfair to children'

Headteacher Simone Beach said Sacred Heart had huge costs associated with the building's closure

A headteacher starting term in temporary classrooms again has hit out at the "unfair" financial hole her school faces.

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Barrow, Cumbria, was forced to close in January 2023 when a routine inspection found the floor was rotten and at risk of collapse.

Many of the pupils have had to be transported to other schools since the closure and headteacher Simone Beach said the "significant deficit" of transport costs should be written off.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it was working with the school, including supporting it with funding.

"The legacy of this deficit is unfair," Mrs Beach said.

"Our children deserve the same opportunities and experiences as all the other little boys and girls in other schools."

She also said the school served "one of the most deprived wards in the country" and was attended by "some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children".

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School shut in January 2023

Mrs Beach, who has spent her entire teaching career at the school, said: "We shouldn't be thinking we can't provide this or that because we need to pay for buses."

She said the school's budget was balanced on the day of the evacuation, but the severe disruption had incurred costs including for pupils to catch-up on the curriculum and to replace resources left behind in the unsafe building.

A new temporary classroom has been provided for children in the grounds of a high school in Barrow

"It is not the kind of money you can make up by doing less colour photocopying - I don't feel this is fair," Mrs Beach said.

Key Stage Two children started the school year in a new, temporary modular building in the grounds of St Bernard's Catholic High School.

Mrs Beach said staff and pupils were excited to see the building had inside toilets, replacing the "festival" type facility they had had to use.

According to staff, the DfE said its new building would be ready to move in to by September 2027.

A DfE spokesman said: "Sacred Heart is part of the School Rebuilding Programme and we are working closely with the trust responsible on next steps including supporting them with funding and temporary provision, so every child has a safe and suitable education."