South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2006 | February | 3
From the archive, first published Friday 3rd Feb 2006.
ANGRY parents campaigning about the state of their children's primary school in Acton Turville have been publicly backed by a local political group.
Last week the Gazette exposed the appalling state of Trinity School which has been neglected by education chiefs for ten years.
Parents were incensed to find out that their children were being taught in dilapidated outbuildings, eating cold food and having to contend with a school building too small to cope with the 129 pupils.
After a site inspection by the deputy leader of South Gloucestershire Council Cllr John Calway (Con, Longwell Green) on Monday, the group of parents have received Tory backing.
Executive member for children and young people Cllr Sheila Cook (Con, Almondsbury) and Cllr Allan Higgs (Con, Winterbourne) joined in on the tour of the neglected school.
Cllr Calway, who said the school had some of the worst buildings he had ever seen, is now calling for drastic action.
"Having seen the school I firmly believe that they have an urgent need for replacement buildings which simply cannot be ignored," he said.
Every year money is put aside by the authority to spend on maintenance and improvements at South Gloucestershire schools but despite a ten-year campaign, Trinity School has been overlooked.
Many parents believe the school's location on the Wiltshire border and its intake of 30 percent of students from across the border are to blame.
Cllr Cook, however, strongly denied the claim. She has now promised to urge the council to make funding for the rural school a priority at a cabinet meeting in March.
Cllr Cook told the Gazette: "Although I cannot give any guarantees that the school will get funding, I was very unimpressed with the state of the buildings. In one of the prefabs the air was so damp it was unhealthy."
Howard Finnegan, who has three girls at the school, said he was pleased with the council's response so far but added that the school should not have been left in such a state of disrepair for so long.
He said: "I think the council is finally realising how bad a state the school is in and that something needs to be done."
© Newsquest Media Group 2008