Burnley school to benefit from upgraded facilities thanks to £112,000 of funding

Coal Clough Academy will receive £112,625 to upgrade and refurbish its Swindon Street school building as part of a £560m. Government school rebuilding programme.

Coal Clough is an alternative provision school for young people aged between 11 and 16, many of whom have found it difficult to settle in mainstream education.

Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham welcomed news of the funding, and the overall rebuilding programme, which he said will ensure schools have well-maintained facilities to provide pupils with safe environments that support a high-quality education.

“I stood on a manifesto promise to level up Burnley and Padiham and the improvements to our education facilities are an important part of that.

“Coronavirus has undoubtedly created a more difficult environment for our teachers and school children but as we look to get all children back to school in September we need to make sure schools have the facilities and classrooms they need to support the high quality education our children deserve.”

Schools across the country have played their part in responding to coronavirus, ensuring their doors remained open for the children of essential workers –who have kept the NHS, public services and economy going throughout this crisis. In September, schools across England will safely reopen their doors to all pupils.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Investing in our school and college buildings helps create modern environments that lend themselves to great teaching, making sure every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“We have worked at great speed to release this additional £560m of condition funding to schools for projects this year to kick-start the economy and get the country moving again following coronavirus.

“This funding brings the total allocated to improve the condition of our school buildings to £2 billion this year, and paves the way for our new transformative ten-year school building programme starting later this year with over £1 billion funding for the first wave of 50 schools.”