How £1.5m will help bolster North Yorkshire school and its community

A secondary school and sixth form in North Yorkshire has been awarded £1.5m to improve it's facilities.
Stokesley School and Sixth Form College.Photo credit: otherStokesley School and Sixth Form College.Photo credit: other
Stokesley School and Sixth Form College.Photo credit: other

Stokesley School has been awarded £1.5m to improve its sixth form building and sports hall.

The money received by Areté Learning Trust, which runs the school, has come from the Government’s Conditions Improvement Fund.

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The North Yorkshire school is one of 19 schools in the county to be awarded funding for the year 2019-20.

Mrs Catherine Brooker, chief executive from Aret Learning Trust. Photo credit: OtherMrs Catherine Brooker, chief executive from Aret Learning Trust. Photo credit: Other
Mrs Catherine Brooker, chief executive from Aret Learning Trust. Photo credit: Other

The condition improvement fund is part of the Government's £2bn investment to improve the condition of schools this year. 132 projects at 107 schools across Yorkshire have been successful in this year’s fund.

This includes funding projects to address health and safety issues, building compliance and poor building condition.It also supports a small proportion of expansion projects.

Coun Bridget Fortune, Hambleton District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure, welcomed the grant for Areté Learning Trust and added it would benefit the wider community as together with the £210,000 from the council it will help transform the sports hall and changing rooms, which they have shared use of.

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Coun Fortune said: “This is fantastic news. During these difficult times large indoor facilities like this are going to become even more important as spaces where school children and adults can exercise safely.”

In the past six years, Stokesley School has seen more than 5 million pounds invested in improving the buildings, much of this from successful bids to the CIF fund – only possible because, as a multi academy trust, additional capital funds can be accessed.

From September 2019, Northallerton School has been sponsored by Areté Learning Trust, joining Stokesley and Richmond Schools in the Trust.

Last year, the trust was successful in obtaining an £8.7m pound grant to enable the school to move from its current ageing and cramped accommodation to a newly refurbished and extended school site in the north of the town.

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Mrs Catherine Brooker, chief executive from Areté Learning Trust , said: "Whilst our school leaders are dealing brilliantly with the impact of the virus, work will be starting soon on the building developments at both schools. As a Trust, we are committed to providing the best possible facilities for our students and staff, who deserve no less."

Other schools that have received funding for smaller-scale projects include Askwith community primary school in Skipton and Ripon, for the replacement of an existing heating system.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough Aspin Park Academy were awarded for a flat roof refurbishment as did Barlby High School and Brayton Academy in Selby and Ainsty.

Harrogate’s Bilton Grange Community Primary School and Hawes Primary School in Richmond also received funding for repairs to the roof.

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Other schools that benefited from small amounts of funding were Scarborough based schools Scalby School and Scarborough Sixth Form College and from Thirsk and Malton, Carlton Miniott Primary Academy and Norton College.

A spokesperson from the department of education said: "We have also announced a transformational ten-year school rebuilding programme as part of radical plans that will benefit schools across England, with substantial investment directed towards the North and Midlands. Details of the 50 schools in the first wave of funding of over £1 billion will be confirmed in the Autumn."

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