Northampton primary school faces move to temporary building

A primary school that was forced to close on the eve of the new academic year will resume on-site lessons in a new temporary building in January.

Buckton Fields Primary near Northampton only opened two years ago, but was ordered to shut by the Department for Education (DfE) over structural safety concerns in August.

Its pupils were relocated to Pineham Barns School, six miles (9.6km) away.

The school said work was "progressing well" on its new building.

Buckton Fields, in Boughton, was one of three schools, including Sir Frederick Gibberd College in Essex, closed by the DfE.

The schools shared the same building contractor, Caledonian Modular, which fell into administration in March 2022.

Preston Hedges Trust, which runs Buckton Fields, said it was "frustrated" that it had been unable to achieve its earlier aim of returning to lessons at the site before the end of October.

The trust's chief executive, Paul Watson, said: "We were told that issues around site access and the exclusion zone around the current building were the cause of this delay.

"We have been assured that the new building will be available to use and we will be back in the Buckton community in January.

"The school community has really pulled together over these past weeks and our work continues to make sure that all children remain safe, happy and learning during this slightly longer period of time they are spending with their friends at our school at Pineham Barns."

In an update on its website, the school said it would hold weekly calls for questions to ask questions and accepted the situation was "unsettling" for families hoping to secure a reception place for the 2024-25 academic year.

The school's new temporary building will be supplied by Portakabin.

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