ONLY THIRD WORLD SCHOOL IN BRITAIN

[inaiz]

CAN SEEM TO GET THE COUNCIL TO COMMIT TO REBUILD A DISASTEROUS SCHOOL,AN OLD SCHOOL WHICH IS DEPRIVED OF A SERIOUS FACELIFT....ANY IDEAS?

Have looked at YT video and I've seen worst. One of our village schools (top 20 in the country and Ofsted outstanding) is worse. No LEA funding to change anything so PTA raised money for improvements. Why can't you do that?

Appreciate that you have been at school in a third world country but I am surprised that you think your school is worse. I've only seen schools in Africa and yours is in a far far better state than those.

Not sure why you think that the LEA should do everything for you. Ime the LEA have very limited budgets and have to prioritise. Maybe you should be putting your boundless energy into raising support within the school.

I am sure you will find builders, plumbers, decorators amongst the parents who can do a lot to improve your school conditions.

I went to an excellent state grammar and spent most of my years in classroooms in portacabins. My ds is at private school and is currently in a portacabin. When he gets to year 6 his classroom will be in a shed .

After reading ur comments ,I realise that there is a lack of understanding towds our cry,its not just about the building ,which by the way,does nt just need a lick of paint,but rather a complete facelift.
treat the infection i say than just puting a plaster over it.
the classrooms are far too small where the children are taught in the lobbies,which contradicts the "every child matters policy" is concerened and god forbid what do we do with extra 90 kids they wish to enrol ontop of a waiting list!
apart from the suggestion of rolling the sleeves up,what would be the opinion if ud seen it before the lick of paint went on in the summer 2009, and as far as the pipes bursting (causing floods in the school) is a cry out for attention-no.OH by the way has any of ur kids been admitted to hospital for a serious water infection----three times!??? caused by using the school toilets Iknow well wait til it reaches 100 trs old,that`ll make sence!!!!

Have also googled. What is wrong with portacabins? Why are you so against that? Why can't you do anything as parents to improve conditions? Our local schools are over 100 years old but do have parents who get involved in an active and practical way. Waving placards at councillors is one way but shouldn't be the only way of improving your school. Why can't you be proactive in a practical way?

One of our local schools had decrepit and derelict outbuildings that needed renovating. The PTA organised parents to do the work. Seems perfectly normal in my (first) world so not sure why this can't be done in yours?

Have seen a lot worse than what s shown in the YT video.

Inaiz, what sort of water infection have the children received from using the toilets at the school?
Normally as long as the toilets are cleaned and soap and water is on hand... I cant understand....
Im really not sure how storming a council meeting would further your cause, aggravating and intimidating is not the way forward.

A classroom I teach in at my school is a very old portacabin, I have 34 children in the class, we do not have room to swing a cat, sadly overcrowding is a way of life now.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with port a cabin classrooms, they are seen as a quick fix, but finances for schools can be so severely stretched that it negates this.

I still think that if you and your PTA, volunteers, who ever, got together and started doing something more active around the premises,as myself and other have mentioned, you might find that the council view you as being more serious about your plight and might find some spare change in the coffers to help.

Your school isnt the only one out there in this country that is like this, as I said in my earlier post I have been in schools that were built over 100 years ago, which if it weren't for willing volunteers, PTA etc would be in a very dire situation now.

Think you parents need to realise that the money might not be forthcoming, stop moaning and pick yourselves up and fund raise for new roof, tiles, toilets etc (this would be fantastic news worthy article for the local press and might even encourage local tradespeople to help) also by organising fundraising and doing the work yourselves, what a fantastic lesson for all the pupils in the school to learn.... you have to work to get what you want!! and sometimes we cant have what we want

Please read what others have said here, they offer loads of great advice....

Our country doesn't have an endless pot of cash (would be nice though!) and does have to make choices that not all of us agree with. I would love for my class to be in a posh state of the art room, its not going to happen, so last year the roof was re felted thanks to funds raised by our wonderful, enthusiastic, hard working PTA.

Im confused...since when trying to get a decent shool-(not a luxury!) considered moaning,is it not a right to ask the concil for our rights as a tax paying community for a run down school the correct help. Idont know if we come across as being spoilt and LAZY,so how about this then hey,after taking the time to scrub the toilets ,you still have the disgraceful stench of the toilets which may I add is directly across the kitchen -an open plan,the teachers and their husbands take the time to come during the holidays with the help of some of the parents to try and maintain the school.
NOT only do we have NO medical room if a child gets ill or hurt,so we use the teachers staffrooms,and which I may also add that not all the teachers can use it, cause its too cramped up,while visiting the school I noticed that some teachers were looking for a place to have a cup a tea and do some work.Make no mistake the school is being maitained,new gates have been fitted in,extentions within a classroom have been made to accomodate new toilets,so if you wish to use the toiletsno problem we need to knock two classrooms doors-disturbanceno?and we all know how frequent the toilets are been used by the kids!
part of thclassrooms you visited-reception class if I stand correct,you lift the carpets to which you will find water pipes runnig beneath them-nice and safe ?
radiator pipes are exposed to a sitting arear where the kids can get burn,so the teachers and parents covered with some kind of cloth before sitting in one section we are told by the surveryors report the celing structure is very poor-perhaps it should fall down first!,AND SO the list goes on
So you see its not just about the shool not looking good ,its about health and safety,its about classroom sizes,its about neccesity and luxury-an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court is not what we asking,but it would be nice!
To answer to the question has this not being checked by regulations?-thats our fight!
it would be more feasible to put a new structure up than to realise after the extentions and rolling the sleeves it would safe the council with no money!
and far as that it is concerned the shortage of monet is just recent,when the council was too busy ofering it elsewhere.

Oh by the way we had the MP Bob Ainsworth visit the school...guess what he refused to go beyond the school hall !Gee I wonder WHY???
AND we also had the priviledge of many local councllrs to all the appaling faces AND comments TIS IS REALLY BAD -NO I wouldnt send my child here!
Come on people all we asking is a clean and SAFE school for our kids ----Don`t you think they deserve it?

inaiz, I have seen your Youtube link. Whilst I do asgree with some posters thast there might be somwhere some school in a worst state thant yours, I can truely say I was by the state of your school.

I have no idea hoe you couold raise the profile of your campain bu it seems a very good cause to me.

CowsGoMoo, we do have a portacabin as well and some classes are not very large, nor do we have a medical room but still, our school looks a million times better than inaiz one, because it lookes loved, not like a dilapidated prison.

I struggle to comprehend why the council does not do anything about it, we are talking about the environment the children are educated in surely that is an importanty issue enough to be taken seriously. I am sure the school local council would be able to find money to finance a "town in Bloom" (Our town a few years back spent lots of money to finance such a campain that made the town look good to outsiders, while closing dozenz of good schools do to lack of money maintaining them) rather that help that school, real shame. people in power need to get theur priorities right IMHO!

To reply twds the spelling in vid clip,if a small thing like that concerns you wait til you visit the school

I see that I can beat anyone with my bad spelling, even your school inaiz!

sorry, I was in a hurry to get DD to nursery but needed to get my point across first!

Genuienely not making a fuss,the community and parents upto date have not made a fuss or request to the council,EVER,just continued with maintainig it,and you can only maintain so much,
Yes there are other schools who are 100 yrs old,maybe there structure is far stronger than our school-no?
You must remember after surveyors reports showed some concerns in the past,[which sparked my interest for the school],surely this has been swept under the carpet far too long!
And theres nothing wrong in being taught in portcabins if the building structure is strong enough our school is neraby a canal,which already sends alarm bells by engineers who visited the school,mentions the foundation over time gets much weaker and more prone to damp--opinions of the professionals.
trust us we are not being lazy and not making a fuss over nothing.

Message withdrawn

Please explain why the PTA cannot do fund raising and solve the problems with the school. Lots of schools do. One of our local schools is in the process of fund raising for new toilets and classrooms. The PTA are taking the lead and also seeking business sponsorship. I assume their request to the LEA for funding fell on deaf ears. Rather than protesting and placarding they are seeking the resolution themselves. What stops you from doing the same?

Not sure why portacabins near a canal are unacceptable. Where I live people pay a huge premium to live near a river. No reason for damp to be an issue because of location near water.

Another thing I don't understand is why you say your school isn't clean. If cleaning isn't being done then I would report the cleaning company to the LEA. Your head teacher should be able to change that. As for safety - school aged children are old enough to know they don't touch hot radiators.

You are very good at saying that things should be done to change your school but you haven't actually done anything to empower yourselves to create that change have you?

We do not mean to make light of the state of schools in the 3rd world but just to give an example of the actual severity of the situation we are in!!!!!

The LEA are aware of situation and carried out a health & safety review in March 2009, when asked what they have done I was told they are preparing a list of works in January 2010!!!!

By the time they address issues it will be over a year!!!! These issues are serious health concerns as urine infections, skin disorders and asthma. Due to poor ventilation, damp and toilets which are over used, inadequate and dirty!!

The foundations are weak and one section of a classroom has already been underpinned 4/5 years ago. Now there are concerns in other parts of the school.

Plumbing, electrics and roof all need updating, the list just gets bigger and bigger!!!!

Also, to address the issue of huts although they are called temporary buildings the LEA will leave them for at least 30 years, or as we were told it's cheaper to leave them once there in place. Which leads me to one of the other reasons to object because they will take away from an already limited play area!!!!!

sammy125 I assume you are talking about the same school as the OP's so maybe you can address the points I've raised - self fund raising, proactivity etc.

What has the PTA done since March 2009 to carry out improvements to the school? What fund raising have you done? What local businesses have you engaged for sponsorship?

Child to toilet ratio?

Well in reception I think there are 4 toilets to 60 children.

And in the Junior school there are 4 girls toilets and 4 boys toilets to 120 children.

being third world is not the fault of the people that reside there,no facilities,no proper infrastruture ect,and all the good stuff,however the reason for the comparison staying in a so called first world country,why can`t the children be offered a first world standard, a first world education? but rather behave third world---- stop making excuses for the council i say and support a good course .

apart from the toilet ratio,what about the conditions of the toilet--aaggh and sometimes two out of three are working,and not to mention the hinges of the doors are about to collapse-I hope not on any of the children foot/feet,or should that happen?

I think I will have to hide this thread!

To OP why aren't you able to address the points I have made re fund raising, being proactive etc. If you have done nothing other than moan then I feel sorry for the school if all its parents are the same. What is stopping you taking action that it demonstrative and achieving? Why can't you organise the building work that is needed?

Can top you all with toilet provision-we have 2 between 58 reception/year1 children in two classrooms

The PTA could possibly raise the funds to MAINTAIN and not REBUILD ,which is the case here!

snice that is a similar ratio to ours and we are paying for the privilege. The high ratio doesn't stop them being cleaned though, which seems to be one of the OP's gripes .

But I think the reality is that not every thing in the "first world", or a developed country is shiney and new. Not every one in the UK has central heating/double glazing, and lots of people do have live in homes with damp. I find eople who come from outside the UK (including other parts of Europe) oftern have unrealisitc expectaions of how things are in the UK.

Why can't the PTA fund raise to rebuild? That is the point I have made several times. Why if other schools can raise funds to rebuild can't yours do the same?