School wrecked by blaze will be rebuilt after all

Campsmount Technology College in Doncaster was razed to the ground in December last year. Since then, pupils have been taught in temporary classrooms in a nearby former junior school, a youth centre and even space at a local sawmill.

The school was due to be rebuilt as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme but, in July this year, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that all projects under the scheme that had not reached "financial close" would be scrapped.

This meant that all BSF projects in Doncaster would no longer receive funding. Even after Doncaster Council removed Campsmount Technology College from its list of schools included in the BSF project, it was still told by the Government that there was no money available.

However, the school and Doncaster Council then told the Government that an exception should be made and, following a visit from a Department for Education representative, it was announced yesterday that the rebuilding would go ahead.

Andrew Sprakes, headteacher at Campsmount Technology College, said: "This is fantastic news for the school and the wider community.

"We achieved amazing results this year in spite of the disruption caused by the fire and we are now looking forward to building a 21st century school that will enhance the learning experiences for our young people now and in the future.

"This is a richly-deserved reward for our staff and community who have always displayed tremendous spirit, commitment and support for Campsmount."

Doncaster's elected mayor Peter Davies, who previously said that the slashing of funds for Doncaster's BSF project was "unfortunate but unavoidable" because of the deficit left by the last Government, also welcomed the news.

He said: "A tremendous amount of work has gone on behind the scenes by the council's school rebuilding team and the school to make this happen. Campsmount was always a special case."

Doncaster Council is now set to begin the process of selecting a bidder for the project, and construction work is expected to begin in March next year.

Councillor Andrea Milner, Doncaster Council's Cabinet member for children's services, said: "Despite the adversity, the school achieved great results last academic year and full credit must go to the teachers and students for getting on with what was expected from them.

"If Campsmount can post a 100 per cent A-level pass rate and a 95 per cent GCSE pass rate, given all they went through, imagine what they can do in a new school."

Introduced by the Labour Government in 2004, the aim of BSF was to revamp all of England's 3,500 schools by 2023, replacing outdated facilities with modern new buildings.

However, the new coalition Government said that in the current financial climate the money was no longer available.

Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools – the quango responsible for managing the BSF project – added: "The news that Campsmount is amongst the projects that contractors will be able to bid for is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to investing in schools which are in the most need.

"I am pleased that Campsmount Technology College will enable us all to test some of the areas being explored as part of the ongoing capital review."

Projects halted across the region

Across the region, a total of 82 schools saw their rebuilding or refurbishing schemes scrapped when the Government announced that it was slashing Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding in July.

Doncaster and Kirklees each had 22 school rebuilding or refurbishment schemes cancelled – although Campsmount Technology College, has now had a reprieve.

In Bradford, funding was lost for 16 refurbishments at existing schools and the creation of two new special needs schools – despite the fact the council had already spent 1.8m developing its latest BSF plans.

Rotherham, Wakefield and North East Lincolnshire also saw their school redevelopment schemes scrapped.

Rebuilding plans also now look unlikely in Calderdale, the East Riding, North Yorkshire and York, where the BSF projects had yet to be accepted onto the Government programme.

In his announcement, Education Secretary Michael Gove said that all BSF projects which had reached "financial close" would receive funding but any in development stages would be axed.