Yahoo News Another blow for Exeter parents as school delayed yet again
Disappointment and concern is rife yet again following the announcement that Exeter's severely delayed new state-of-the-art 'all through' school building won't be ready for the start of the new school year. Matford Brook Academy, located on the southern edge of Exeter within the new Haldon Reach development, has been plagued with ongoing 'significant' construction issues.
Problems with its foundations led the Department for Education (DfE) to announce in June 2023 - just three months before it was due to welcome its first intake - that the building would not be ready in time. Parents were left frantically finding places for their children at other schools or sending them to a temporary setting a few miles away within St Luke's Church of England School with far fewer pupils than originally planned.
A year on, the DfE has admitted once again that the school, which will eventually cater for two to 16-year-olds, won't be ready for pupils to use this September, despite previous assurances it would be. Following recent inspection and compliance checks on the building, further checks and works are required before the quality of the building meets the threshold to be signed off and handed over to the Ted Wragg Trust which will run the school.
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Last month, DevonLive reported claims that the building was being impacted by 'missing' structural bolts. The DfE declined to comment and previously stated construction and monitoring checks were ongoing.
It told the trust it was looking at the 'feasibility' of temporary accommodation on the site as 'precautionary planning measures' which have now materialised. In a letter sent from the trust to parents on Wednesday, June 12, it confirms the option of temporary classrooms on the school site in Trood Lane is being explored so that pupils won't have to be educated at alternative schools as was the case in 2023.
It has not been confirmed how long pupils may have to be educated in temporary classrooms. The proposed designs and examples of similar projects in other parts of the country have been shared on the school's website by the trust.
The letter from Tim Rutherford, deputy CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust, and Hannah Rose, acting headteacher of Matford Brook Academy (MBA), shared the unwelcomed news of the building not being ready while trying to provide reassurance for parents that pupils will still be able to join the school.
The letter said: "The DfE has confirmed the school building will not be ready to occupy in September as hoped and planned. There are still some outstanding checks and works to complete on areas of the building.
"Part of this involves their technical advisers overseeing the checks and works to ensure we have a quality building. I know you will be disappointed and frustrated with this news, we are too.
"Please know we are working hard to ensure that the DfE do all they can to rectify the situation with their contactors as soon as possible. We will continue to push the DfE for updates and we will share these with you as soon as we receive them.
"Our main focus now turns to ensuring that we have a great temporary solution on site as soon as possible. The good news is the DfE are working to deliver an onsite offer at MBA ready for September.
"This will allow us to open all classes as planned and provide an education to all children with offers of places. The plans are being developed at pace by the DfE and their contractor, and we will update you with more details on the arrangements for September as soon as we can, and by the end of the month at the latest.
"Should a temporary solution be required beyond the first half term, the DfE have confirmed the temporary school will include a wide range of specialist facilities for example science labs, food tech rooms and a sports hall so we will be able to deliver the full curriculum for both primary and secondary pupils."
When the project is finished, the two-storey and three-storey building will provide space for 59 nursery places, 630 primary pupils and 750 secondary students and the opportunity for extensive community use.
A spokesperson for DfE said: "We are completing further checks and works to the site at Matford Brook to ensure the construction of the school meets the required standards, and we are now taking forward plans for alternative September 2024 accommodation.
"We will continue to work closely with the school and the trust to minimise any disruption to education while plans are developed at pace."
Covering approximately 9,196sqm, the state-of-the-art building will include a fully equipped theatre with raked seating, activity studio, spacious learning and resources centre and two recreational halls in addition to a dedicated dining hall.
The extensive sport facilities include a traditionally built four-court sports hall, a large 3G artificial turf all-weather flood-lit pitches, netball courts, a full-sized adult football pitch, a cricket square, a full-sized adult rugby pitch, 400m athletics track and field provision, an outdoor learning environment including woodland area and a four-court multi-use games area (MUGA) parking and amenity space.
