Hale school will crumble without repairs, say teachers

Teachers and governors fear their Grade II-listed primary school will crumble away if urgent repairs are not made.

Those in charge at Stamford Park Primary School in Hale, Greater Manchester, said they felt their needs were being overlooked and, without immediate investment, essential repairs were becoming increasingly difficult to address.

The school, which dates back to 1905, is the only Grade II-listed building in the area and needs between £3m and £4m in funding to get it “up to standard”.

Trafford Council said it had been working with Stamford Park but it was a “particularly complex case”. The authority added it had received an annual budget of about £2.6m to help maintain 39 schools.

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said while they did not have a budget for “capital repairs” for schools he would look at convening “relevant players” needed to get a solution.

School governor James Phillips, who is also a structural engineer, said the amount of work needed was “massive”.

The school, built by Henry Lord, was granted listed status by Historic England in February 2020.

Many of its original features are still evident but school leaders have said the building fabric is way beyond its original intended design life.

While local repairs have been undertaken over the years, the building age is claimed to be leading to “widespread degradation that is difficult to manage”.

A leaking roof and peeling walls are often among the daily repairs that are needed.

Headteacher Sarah Price said they had worked tirelessly at the school to preserve the building’s heritage while ensuring it remained a safe and inspiring space for children.

But she added maintaining its listed status was adding a “further burden” to repair costs.

“I think it is very difficult at the moment because we have health and safety issues, which we are trying to combat and a building looking like this, isn’t appealing to prospective parents and children,” she said.

“But for the children too, they want to come to school and learn in an engaging environment and we are struggling in certain areas in terms of making them fully usable.”

While some of the facilities require urgent repairs, the school says the safety and wellbeing of children and staff remain their top priority.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said it was committed to increasing investment nationally to £2.1bn to improve the condition of school buildings, “fixing the foundations for staff and pupils”, and protecting key education priorities.

They added: “Raising school standards is at the heart of this government’s mission to improve children’s life chances through our Plan for Change, and high quality and sustainable buildings are a key part of that.”