The Department for Education (DfE) conducted surveys in summer 2023 which identified concerns with building work carried out by a specific contractor no longer in business.
They identified a group of schools with structural issues and unfortunately, Buckton Fields Primary School is one of those schools.
The DfE has informed us they are not fully satisfied the school is safe, therefore we are unable to reopen the building to pupils in September 2023.
Having evaluated options, we believe the optimum solution is to maintain the exact same quality of teaching and learning by moving children to our sister school, Pineham Barns, until temporary buildings can be installed on site.
The DfE will undertake a full building survey and, based on the results of this survey the DfE will either proceed with remedial works or an entire rebuilding of the school. We anticipate knowing which option the DfE will be taking by November.
Update December 2023 – The decision has been made to rebuild the permanent building. The Dfe will begin the process of procuring a new building contractor to demolish the buildings and undertake a new build.
From February 2024, our school will be back in its home community, in brilliant brand new purpose built premises, offering the same high quality creative learning spaces and resources children enjoyed at our existing building – with separate classrooms, a school hall, kitchen facilities – and now also offering an innovation space, new early years outdoor area and dedicated space for breakfast and after-school clubs.
We appreciate how unsettling this situation is, both for our existing school community, and for families hoping to secure a Reception place at Buckton Fields for their children in 2024. Please be reassured that work on the new building is already underway and progressing well, and the DfE is in regular contact with us. We will continue to update parents on a regular basis, so we can work well together as we rise to this unexpected challenge.
The Buckton Fields team will continue to provide the very best teaching and learning opportunities for your children, albeit from different buildings. School leadership will be the same, the teaching staff will be the same, the quality of educational provision will be the same, and the values and ethos which drive the school forward will be the same.
To meet the team and to find out more about our plans for a brilliant brand new building, please come along to our Reception Open Days and Evening Tours.
To keep you updated with plans and create opportunities for you to ask questions and provide feedback, our weekly calls will continue on Wednesdays at 5.30pm.
We will also hold face to face meetings when there is news to share about the school, the grounds, and when in January we will be able to return.
The building we move into in February 2024 will be supplied by Portakabin, the largest supplier of temporary buildings in the UK. Below are the latest images from Portakibin of the new school.
Our building will be one unit of a similar size and scale to the current ground floor of Buckton, wrapped with wood effect and the Buckton Fields logo, with the following.
Planned completion is for February 2024, and further details of the temporary building will be shared as soon as they are available.
