Headteacher to climb mountain for school heating

Headteacher Matthew Evans is climbing Kilimanjaro for raise money for Farmor's School

Two members of staff at a school are planning to climb the highest mountain in Africa to raise funds for a new heating system.

Farmor's School headteacher Matthew Evans and assistant headteacher Roger Eckersley are taking on Mount Kilimanjaro to pay for new boilers heat the classrooms.

The academy is currently using temporary boilers after its old ones were condemned and said its bids for government funding for replacements have been rejected.

The Department for Education (DfE) said schools could apply for emergency funding.

The school's old boilers dated back to the 1960s and were nicknamed Jack and Jill

A DfE spokesperson added: “The outcome of the 2024/25 Condition Improvement Fund will be published in the spring.

“We also offer additional emergency support on a case-by-case basis to schools which face significant issues that could risk building closures, and have advised Farmor’s School about how it can apply for this if it deems appropriate.”

The school's old boilers, which dated back to the 1960s and were known "Jack and Jill", stopped worked in October 2023.

Since then the school has been leasing temporary boilers costing about £4,000 a month but Mr Evans said the entire heating system was in need of updating.

"We never know when the heating is going to work and where it is going to work... staff come in prepared to be cold, as do students," said Mr Evans.

With temperatures falling below freezing through the winter, children and staff at the school have resorted to wearing coats, gloves and hats inside.

Mr Evans said as a single academy trust they do not receive the same government funding as non-academy schools and have to make a bid directly to central government.

He added that previous bids to fund a new heating system had been rejected but the school had put another bid in recently and was waiting to hear back.

"There's no emergency funding available for academy schools," added Mr Evans.

Mr Evans said he wanted a long-term carbon neutral heating system

The headteacher said he wanted a long-term heating system which would be carbon neutral.

Mr Evans and Mr Eckersley have raised £3,545 of their £10,000 fundraising target and are planning to climb Kilimanjaro in August over eight days.

"We are very keen on climbing mountains. It's something we both wanted to do for a number of years and we determined that this would be the year to do it.

"We're not getting any younger. We're going to do our best and train for it," added Mr Evans.