These are the improvements planned for Sheffield schools over the next year

Sheffield Council officials look to approve the plans at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, January 15, in which they will discuss a number of projects including those in need of School Condition Allocation (SCA) – government funding which is given to eligible bodies responsible for maintaining school buildings to keep them safe and in good working order.

This includes local authorities, such as Sheffield council, and the schools it maintains as well as voluntary-aided bodies and schools, academies, large multi-academy trusts and sponsors, sixth-form colleges, special schools not maintained by the council and special post-16 institutions with eligible students.

In the report, Broomhall Nursery has set out a case for work to its basement area which if left to deteriorate any further will have a “serious effect” on the structure of the building and become a “health and safety hazard for building users accessing the space and using the ground floor rooms above.”

It states that repair work, which would be funded by condition allocation funding at a cost of nearly £10,000, is vital to stop the ingress of water into the basement space and issues such as damp and associated timber rot need to be rectified – steps which if not completed could lead the timber to fail and could mean the nursery has to close, affecting both staff and children.

Officials have also been asked by Clifford All Saints Church of England Primary School to employ an engineer to inspect the heating and hot water system at its site on Ringinglow Road, formerly Ecclesall Junior School, after a consultant engineer, employed by the diocese, recommended the replacement of the boiler and its parts.

The Diocese of Sheffield, which supports the school, and the council currently have an agreement which includes the “mechanical installation” at the site in any capital programme, according to the report.

The report reads: “If the report is consistent with that prepared by the diocese consultant, feasibility design and estimates of cost are prepared.” If successful, this could receive nearly £9,000 in SCA funding.

In summer 2019, accessibility work was carried out at Shooters Grove Primary to allow a wheelchair-using pupil who was entering full-time education the access to buildings in Foundation Stage 2 and Key Stage 1 in line with their Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP).

It is hoped the pupil will stay on to study throughout Key Stage 2, therefore a case is being made for more accessibility work costing just over £16,000 which will "also benefit any future wheelchair user.”

Funding for this would come from the special provision capital fund, which enables councils to invest in improving the quality and range of provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the work would need to be carried out by the end of August, 2022, as the pupil will move to KS2 that September.

Royd Nursery Infant School is due to undergo work to replace the mechanical systems that control the quality of indoor environments in school buildings as part of a contract in 2019/20 which includes Bradway Infants and Woodhouse West Primary Schools.

But the situation at Royd Infants has now been classed as an “emergency” as further failings have left one building without hot water until the full boiler and storage systems have been replaced.

The boiler has recently been replaced to enable temporary heating and hot water services but the school say that, unless further work is carried out, the teaching space will be unusable in colder weather amongst other things.

It is asking for a total of around £65,000 through the SCA to provide a “reliable and efficient heating and hot water system” and secure the use of the affected building long-term by preventing damage and degradation to the building by fixing subsequent water leaks from faulty pipework.

Woodhouse West Primary School is facing a similar issue as the existing boiler currently requires replacement to eradicate issues with reliability and efficiency. If this work – costing up to £20,000 of the condition allocation – is not carried out this will leave the staffroom unusable in colder weather.

Bradway Primary also makes a case for around £65,000 of SCA funding for a project to install a new boiler and fix issues which could leave parts of the affected building unable to use when it gets cold.

The report also details information regarding a new sports pitch at on Stanley Fields to serve both Astrea Academy, a through school for two to 18-year-olds, as well as the surrounding community. As outdoor space is limited on the school premises, sports facilities need to be provided off-site.

Funding for this project is given through the Basic Need Allocation, money which the government give councils each year to help them fulfil their duty to make sure there are enough school places for children in their local area.

Following delays in the delivery of the programme, a case is being made to allow nearly £710,000 to be “slipped from 2019/20 to 2020/21”.

A retrospective budget approval is also being sought after emergency works were carried out to repair a damaged culvert which had flooded the playground at Greystones Primary School.