I recently visited Holy Trinity Pewley Down School and met Clare Brunet, the Headteacher, and Canon Alex Tear FCCT, Diocesan Director of Education, who kindly gave me a tour of the school’s facilities.
Following the discovery of RAAC at the Pewley Down Infant School building in October 2023, Holy Trinity Junior School has been taking on their pupils.
To support the health and safety of the children whilst the infant school hopefully has mitigation measures agreed ahead of a future rebuild, temporary classrooms were installed at Holy Trinity.
I was impressed by the excellent quality of these rooms, knowing that Clare had insisted on the very best was pleased to learn that the staff have shown incredible resilience during such an uncertain period, making the children feel at home. They have my grateful thanks.
Following my meeting with a group of parents just before the February half-term whose children attend Pewley Down Infant School, who raised concerns with me about the length of time the repair was taking, I wrote again to the Department for Education to ensure that the strength of feeling was conveyed.
I’m pleased that this made a positive difference and that things are moving in the right direction. The school is hopeful that it will be able to start the new academic year back at the infant site and I will continue to engage with the DfE during the current tendering process to make sure decisions are made in a timely way for everyone in the school community.
During the tour, I was shown some of the school’s outdoor areas which are frequently used by children as spaces to learn and grow.
I would like to pay tribute to Clare, who will soon be stepping down, for the incredible leadership she has shown as Headteacher. I know how much she is appreciated by everyone and I could easily see why.
Thank you, Clare and Alex, for your warm welcome and our continuing, constructive engagement.