Parent criticises Bedford school over conditions for pupils during refurbishments

The mum, who does not wish to be named, went to parents evening at the school on Thursday, November 7, and was unhappy with the facilities.

She said: "I went to parents evening at the school on Thursday and went to use the bathroom and there was urine running down the corridor and it was a mess inside.

"I complained to Environmental Health the next day, my son has told me that there is no heating, no hot food and the toilets are not working properly.

"That is not on and the school should not be open if there is no heating.

"I understand that there is work going on but that should be an essential, they should close while there is no heating.

"We had a letter explaining about the works and it mentioned a grab-a-bag lunch, there is no hot food, my son said they get hot food in once a week, but by the time they eat it, it is cold, in this cold weather the children should be having hot meals.

"My son has Type 1 diabetes and he could catch anything in this weather, to have no heating could make him ill.

"I understand that Environmental Health have contacted the school and they were told that the heating would be working by Monday and the toilets are sorted, but my son called me today (Monday) and asked me to collect him because the heating was not working.

"Nothing has been done and my son will not be going back until it is sorted."

Goldington Academy is undergoing a refurbishment to improve the school, which includes new ceilings, new flooring and an upgraded heating system.

A letter was sent to parents in July informing them of the news of the refurbishment.

Principal Francis Galbraith said: "The school has worked closely with the DfE over the past 5 years after being the only school in Bedfordshire to be awarded Priority Schools Building Partnership (PSBP) funding worth in excess of £7 million in 2015.

"The work will take place throughout 2019-20. At the end of the project the children will have the benefits of a state-of-the-art infrastructure, an upgraded heating system and energy efficient LED lighting.

"In addition, much of the school will be completely refurbished. This will include new ceilings, new flooring and the main school being repainted. It’s a very exciting time for the school.

"With this size of investment, it is inevitable that there will be some disruption to the school, however we are continuing to work with the DfE and the contractors to ensure that this is minimal.

"On Monday 11 November our new heating system was permanently turned on and this has addressed the heating situation.

"We did have a temporary issue with our hot water supply but this is also being rectified this week.

"We are fully on track to open our new canteen and dining facilities on Monday 2 December and from that point we will once again offer hot lunchtime meals.

"All parents were informed in July that we would only able to offer a grab-a-bag sandwich meal until this time. This arrangement has run smoothly throughout this period with support from both parents and pupils.

"Although we had a couple of toilets unavailable last week we had plenty of fully functioning washroom facilities available for all."