Lancashire County Council has agreed how it will work with the Department for Education (DfE) to support the rebuilding of two schools in Rossendale whose existing facilities are set to be wholly or largely replaced.

Whitworth Community High School will be among the first to see construction work carried out under the government’s school rebuilding programme, which is designed to upgrade educational facilities in England.

A total of £1bn has been allocated for 50 sites across the country, including Lytham St Anne’s High School and Tarleton Academy.

Projects in the first phase of the scheme are expected to be completed within five years, although some, including those in Lancashire, are likely to be ready much sooner.

A further two schools – All Saints’ Roman Catholic High School in Rossendale and Seven Stars Primary School in Leyland – will fall into a second round of schemes, bringing the total number of rebuilds so far planned across the country to 100. 

No funding announcement has been made or timetable set for the later projects.

The facilities earmarked for a revamp have been prioritised either because their buildings are of a specific construction type that requires replacement or because their condition has placed them in the highest category of need for attention.

County Hall leader Phillippa Williamson said that it was “good to see some investment coming into the fabric of our schools”.

Labour opposition group leader Azhar Ali also welcomed the funding, but questioned why a review of school place capacity at Whitworth Community High could not have been done “all in one go”.

“There are a lot of children from Rochdale that actually go to Whitworth and some of the kids in Whitworth actually don’t get to go – maybe it was a missed opportunity and additional capacity could have been built in for future-proofing education in the Whitworth area,” said County Cllr Ali, reflecting concerns that he said had been raised by borough councillors and residents.

Speaking before Thursday’s meeting, Whitworth Community High headteacher Gill Middlemass said:  “We are delighted to be one of the first 12 schools in the national pilot of the DfE school rebuilding programme and are very much looking forward to work commencing in earnest on our new school building.

“Our current Laingspan building from the 1960s will be replaced by a modern, modular design which will not only meet the needs of our school community but will complement the natural environment in visual and aesthetic terms. 

"It will be a light and airy, green-roofed, net carbon zero construction with enhanced facilities and accessibility – a building which will reflect our students’ ambitions and our school’s aspirations of ‘climbing higher’.’’

The current school accommodation at Whitworth will be replaced with a two and three-storey L-shaped block, constructed adjacent to the current buildings – although the sports hall block will remain.  

The list of schools was first published by ministers earlier this year – and now Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has authorised senior directors at the authority to “negotiate and enter any agreements deemed necessary to support the effective delivery of the programme and protect the interests of the county council”.   

County Hall will also continue to advise the DfE on the “scope and scale of proposals” for the Lancashire schools benefitting from the programme, as well as support school leadership teams where necessary.

Papers presented to cabinet members state that “the implications” for the county council are greatest in relation to the two schools on the list which it currently maintains – Whitworth Community High and Seven Stars Primary.   

Lytham St Anne’s High is a foundation trust school, Tarleton Academy is operated by the Endeavour Multi-Academy Trust and All Saints’  High is part of the Romero Catholic Academy Trust.

Building work will take place in such a way that pupils will not need to move into temporary classrooms.

The new building will be ready to be occupied from January 2023, at which point the remaining phases of demolition and landscaping will be completed.   The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the DfE and contractors are confident that accessibility issues at the Hall Fold site can be overcome.

The government has said that it intends to complete 500 schemes under the schools rebuilding initiative over the course of the next decade.   It is currently consulting on the criteria by which schools should be assessed to qualify for subsequent phases of the programme.