Construction work at All Saints RC High, Rawtenstall, begins

Construction at All Saints Catholic High School, in Haslingden Road, Rawtenstall, to bring new state of the art learning facilities to the site is being funded through the School Rebuilding Programme.

A new teaching block, car park and cycle storage will be created at the school, which is rated Good by Ofsted, and new outdoor sports facilities will also be built on the site.

The school was taken over by the Romero Catholic Academy Trust in 2020, and its demolition and rebuild was approved by Rossendale Council last September.

It becomes the second secondary school in Rossendale borough to benefit from new facilities being built, following £17.6 million of construct work at Whitworth Community High School.

Plans for regeneration work at Haslingden High School are expected to be put forward soon in the hope it can also benefit from Department for Education funding.

Jake Berry has welcomed the work (Image: UK Parliament)

Rossendale and Darwen MP, Jake Berry, who helped secure the funding for the schools, said: “We’re getting on with improving schools for local kids, giving them the best chance to learn so they can get on in life.

“It’s really exciting that construction at All Saints will be starting next week, getting underway this muti-million-pound project to deliver the first-class facilities our children deserve.

“I know there’s more to do on school buildings here in Rossendale.

"Valley Leadership Academy has made significant academic improvements over recent years, but I'm doing all I can to get the funding to improve its school buildings as well.”

Led by headteacher Brian McNally and executive head Xavier Bowers, All Saints' High has 490 pupils on its roll.

Tilbury Douglas Construction Limited will carry out the work on behalf of the Department for Education, with the new school buildings being constructed before demolition of the existing school is carried out.