Yesterday Ms Rancins, headteacher at Woodrush High School, sent an email to parents warning them of potential school closure due to broken heating.
In 2017 the school conducted a Condition and Feasibility Report of the school and found that the boiler and heating systems within the school needed replacing.
In September 2018, Ms Rancins wrote to parents expressing her worry at how underfunded schools are in Worcestershire, and says the money Woodrush have is not enough to cover the heating system replacement or upgrade.
Thus Woodrush have applied for a specialised funding pot developed by the Department of Education. It's designed for Academies to address issues that the schools revenue can't meet.
The Department of Education have rejected the application twice.
The heating system has since failed and has left 1/3 of the school without heat.
The school have bought oil filled heaters in the mean time but need the heating system fixed to ensure the school remains open.
Woodrush have raised the matter to the Education & Skills Funding Agency for an emergency response.
EDIT: two days after this article was published Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has responded with an exclusive comment: “ Although I’m not a Member of Parliament at the moment, I’m still there to help residents in any way I can. Woodrush is a great school and I understand the disruption this incident has caused for students and teachers - which is why earlier this week I spoke with the Secretary of State for Education, together with whom I am working on an urgent solution.”
In response to the broken heating a Go Fund Me page has been set up by residents of Wythall to raise enough money for the school. You can find that here.
As a community we need to make as much noise as possible to get this matter sorted.
Michaella Stevens sent an email to Ms Rancins and published her response on the local Facebook group.
This was Ms Rancins response:
"Part of this process has now included us applying for emergency funding through the DfE as they have failed to fund us through the usual channels. Our aim will always be to keep our young people in lessons and we are doing everything we can to ensure there is no disruption to their education.
In 2017 the school conducted a Condition and Feasibility Report of the school and found that the boiler and heating systems within the school needed replacing.
In September 2018, Ms Rancins wrote to parents expressing her worry at how underfunded schools are in Worcestershire, and says the money Woodrush have is not enough to cover the heating system replacement or upgrade.
Thus Woodrush have applied for a specialised funding pot developed by the Department of Education. It's designed for Academies to address issues that the schools revenue can't meet.
The Department of Education have rejected the application twice.
The heating system has since failed and has left 1/3 of the school without heat.
The school have bought oil filled heaters in the mean time but need the heating system fixed to ensure the school remains open.
Woodrush have raised the matter to the Education & Skills Funding Agency for an emergency response.
EDIT: two days after this article was published Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has responded with an exclusive comment: “ Although I’m not a Member of Parliament at the moment, I’m still there to help residents in any way I can. Woodrush is a great school and I understand the disruption this incident has caused for students and teachers - which is why earlier this week I spoke with the Secretary of State for Education, together with whom I am working on an urgent solution.”
In response to the broken heating a Go Fund Me page has been set up by residents of Wythall to raise enough money for the school. You can find that here.
As a community we need to make as much noise as possible to get this matter sorted.
Michaella Stevens sent an email to Ms Rancins and published her response on the local Facebook group.
This was Ms Rancins response:
"Part of this process has now included us applying for emergency funding through the DfE as they have failed to fund us through the usual channels. Our aim will always be to keep our young people in lessons and we are doing everything we can to ensure there is no disruption to their education.
We are extremely grateful for your offer of support and your suggestion for parental donations. However, at this time, as key stakeholders the most effective way parents/carers can support us is to lobby the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure we receive the emergency funding we require."
We all need to come together and spread the message on social media to ensure Woodrush stays open.
EDIT: We’ve recently had word from Suzy Moore that the chair Chair of the Governors at Woodrush is also Deputy Leader at Bromsgrove Council. This might help with trying to get the situation sorted.
EDIT: We’ve recently had word from Suzy Moore that the chair Chair of the Governors at Woodrush is also Deputy Leader at Bromsgrove Council. This might help with trying to get the situation sorted.
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