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Buckton Fields school welcomes pupils back six months after closure

Laura Coffey/BBC The inside of a temporary classroom buildikngLaura Coffey/BBC
The temporary school building will welcome children who were forced to leave the Buckton Fields Primary School site six months ago

Pupils have returned to their primary school site six months after the Department for Education (DfE) shut it due to structural concerns.

Buckton Fields Primary School, in Boughton near Northampton, only opened two years ago but was ordered to close by the government in August.

Temporary classrooms have opened on a different area of the site.

Pupils were relocated to Pineham Barns School, six miles away (9.6km) after the school was told to close.

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

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

Kaylee Poloczek/BBC Buckton Fields Primary SchoolKaylee Poloczek/BBC
Safety concerns were raised about the new Buckton Fields Primary School building in August, forcing it to shut

It was announced in December that the school would be demolished and rebuilt.

Supplied by Portakabin, the temporary building will be wrapped with wood-effect and the Buckton Fields logo.

Laura Mealor has two daughters at the school. She said the last six months had been "quite a big change, but they have got used to it".

"I think they enjoyed going on the bus every morning [to Pineham Barns]," she said.

Ms Mealor, who has visited the temporary school at Buckton Fields, described it as "absolutely incredible" and added: "You would never guess it's a mobile building."

She said staff had also "made the transition so smooth for everybody".

Laura Coffey/BBC Laura Mealor with her daughtersLaura Coffey/BBC
Parent Laura Mealor said staff had worked incredibly hard and said she was thrilled with the new temporary school building

Early years lead Ms Hendry said she was "most looking forward to getting to work and having time to set up before the children arrive".

"It has been more challenging not being in our school... but the children have been resilient and all staff have been working incredibly hard," she said.

Laura Coffey/BBC Paul Watson, chief executive of the Preston Hedges TrustLaura Coffey/BBC
Paul Watson, chief executive of the Preston Hedges Trust, said the transition had been "a load of hard work"

Paul Watson, chief executive of the Preston Hedges Trust, said he was "delighted to be back home in Buckton in our communities".

"I'm so thrilled for our families, our staff and most importantly for our children," he said.

"It's been a load of hard work, getting the classrooms ready, and making it feel like a school."

It is hoped the new permanent school building will open in September 2026, subject to planning permission.

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