Swinton Academy: Rotherham secondary's 15-year-wait for promised new build leaves school in the dark
A Rotherham academy is in the dark over whether contractors will ever arrive to replace its aging classrooms 15 years after the Government first promised to build a new school.
Chilly single-pane windows, old radiators and even leaking roofs all add to the mounting yearly maintenance costs for Swinton Academy, whose main buildings have now stood for over 70 years.
And, even if surveyors arrived tomorrow to begin work on the promised all-under-one-roof redesign, they would be starting from scratch and could take up to three years - the last set of plans drawn up in 2010 would have to be thrown out.
Principal Ms Chala Wilson told The Star: “A lot of our pupils are the children of parents who also came to Swinton, and they say to us ‘it’s exactly same.’
“It’s the students who deserve a building that’s fit for purpose, and that’s what this is about.”
In 2010, Swinton Academy - then known as Swinton Comprehensive School - was promised a fresh start through the Building Schools for the Future Programme under the last Labour Government.
But this provision was scrapped by the Conservative’s Michael Gove soon after that year’s General Election.
“It was really quite devastating for the community at the time,” said Ms Wilson.
“After our academisation in 2016, we were placed on the School Rebuilding Programme in 2023.
“Due to the poor condition of the fabric of the building, it requires significant investment from the trust [Aston Community Education Trust] on a yearly basis to be compliant with health and safety.
“To be honest, though, it is papering over the cracks.
“It’s not financially sustainable when the solution in 2010 could have been a new building.”
Swinton Academy’s grounds and existing buildings are sufficient enough that lessons would not be disrupted by construction.
However, bring on the School Rebuilding Programme list has functionally brought them no closer to seeing the project begin - and Swinton has no idea when their turn will come.
Executive principal Rebecca Hibberd said: “The trust is trying to keep the school in good repair but it’s a very old fashioned school now and it’s quite tired. It’s doesn’t look very good when trying to show people around.
“The cost of things like single-pane windows, lights that don’t switch off automatically and leaking heat, the cost of maintenance and wastage is very high.
“We just want the best for our children.”
Ms Wilson and Ms Hibberd says Swinton has received “huge amounts of support” from Rawmarsh and Conisbrough MP John Healey, who on September 4 wrote to the Secretary of State for Education’s office calling for the academy to take priority on the programme.
Mr Healey wrote: “For the last two years I have been working with Swinton Academy to advance the school’s case for rebuilding, just as I did over a decade ago to secure Swinton’s inclusion in the last Labour government’s Building Schools for the Future programme which was axed by Michael Gove soon after the 2010 election. Fifteen years on, you will appreciate how much stronger and more urgent the need for the rebuild is now.
“I am grateful for the communication that I have had with you and your officials over the last year, and for your officials’ contact with the school in recent months, and I am writing to ask for confirmation that Swinton Academy is now included in your Department’s School Rebuilding Programme, and to request clarity on when this project will get underway and be completed.
“The school and council need certainty to plan ahead, which is why a formal confirmation letter and indicative timeline from the Department will be so helpful. This will allow the school to look forward and make decisions with confidence.”