Latest news with #schoolreopening
BBC News
30-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Prudhoe Community High School's September reopening confirmed
Pupils at a school closed since February after cracks were discovered in its first floor will return in September, it has been from Prudhoe Community High School, in Northumberland, have been taught at Sunderland College's Washington Campus, 16 miles (25.7km) away, in recent of the school's reopening was confirmed in a letter to parents from the academy running it, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Learning Trust's chief executive officer, Alice Witherow, said the decision had been taken following meetings with technical advisors from the Department for Education (DfE) and builders. It had previously been described as the "best case scenario" alongside the possibility it could take up until Christmas. 'Huge relief' The cause of the cracks has yet to be school cost £14.6m to build under the then-Conservative Witherow wrote: "I know this will be a huge relief for all."Work will start over the coming weeks to fix the areas of the building where the original crack appeared and ongoing checks will be made throughout that time in order that we have absolute assurance that the building is safe and that this will not happen again."We are still waiting on final written reports on the building and will be able to update you with more information regarding the cause as these are completed."Furniture and equipment will be transported from Washington back to Prudhoe during the school holidays, she DfE previously said it had been "continuing to work with the school and the trust". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Prudhoe Community High School may reopen in September
A school which was closed due to safety concerns will reopen in the autumn term, its academy trust has Community High School in Northumberland was shut in February after cracks were found in the first floor of the building, which is less than 10 years then, pupils have been taught at Sunderland College's Washington Campus - 16 miles (25.7km) away from their Learning Trust's CEO Alice Witherow said "the best case scenario" could see pupils return by September, but warned parents the situation could drag out until Christmas. "The precise time frame is still emerging so we are planning for both possibilities," Ms Witherow said."As a relatively new school, the building is under warranty and the original builders, as part of their contract, have the right to repair the building under that warranty."Following investigations by different parties, the builders have given assurance that they have the capacity and workforce to undertake any remediations required. This means that the building can be reopened in the autumn term." 'Stress for families' The school was built in 2016 at a cost of £14.6m under the previous Conservative government's priority school building programme (PSBP).An investigation is under way into the damage but an exact cause has yet to be Witherow said the building's concrete and steel frame had "performed in a way that was not expected", which caused cracks to appear on the first school will only be reopened once Department for Education technical advisors deem the building safe, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Hexham MP Joe Morris said he had been inspired by school staff who had "worked at pace to minimise disruption to learning". "I also want to recognise the stress this has caused the families and carers of those studying at Prudhoe Community High School and, most of all, the hard work of the students," he said."Relocation while studying has caused immense stress to those students, and we should all recognise and celebrate their accomplishments." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
