Headteacher brands Biggleswade school "unfit for purpose" as renovation plans stall

Describing it as “unfit for purpose”, Ivel Valley School and College head Joe Creswick told Central Bedfordshire Council’s SEND sub-committee: “It was never built to accommodate the current number of pupils, or the complex medical, behavioural and educational needs of the children we educate.

“Our youngest pupils are taught in temporary classrooms, which swallow up much-needed outdoor space,” he explained. “Children have to go outside and get soaked sometimes to eat their lunch in the tent, which serves as a dining hall.

“I’ve asked the CBC assets team repeatedly about the building’s condition, but have been met with a wall of silence. I had to submit an FOI to get hold of CBC reports about the condition of my own school building.

“We don’t have the specialist facilities we need, such as a hydrotherapy pool for children in pain every day and the quiet spaces distressed pupils need to regulate themselves emotionally.

“These are some of the forgotten children of Ivel Valley because of their SEND requirements and through living in Central Bedfordshire.

“We were so pleased to be told we’d get a new school building, but nothing has happened. We’ve invested enormous amounts of time in this project. I submitted another FOI to find out how much money CBC has spent, £750,000, to make no decision.”

CBC’s assistant director of capital delivery Sarah-Jayne Pizzie replied: “Detailed feasibility work indicated the overall cost to deliver the scheme as planned is above that within CBC’s medium-term financial plan (MTFP).

“We don’t have enough money in that plan to deliver the project. A revised capital programme is being prepared with a proposal to provide this school, but we’ll need to update the costs to reflect what that feasibility study is telling us about the expense to the council.

“That will be included in the draft capital programme which comes to scrutiny in January, ahead of full council decision on our budgets in February. Our colleagues in assets are looking at alternative ways to support Joe as a school in expanding.

“We’re considering a split site option or whether there’s an ability to use some of the Ivel Valley buildings to provide the same number of (new) places at a reduced capital cost. That work has begun.

“This involves Joe and the school to ensure their views and anything he sees pupils are missing educationally are captured and addressed.

“We’re creating an extra 85 places, while we’re looking to deliver a 330-place school in totality. It’s a more phased model, but we don’t expect any delay in those extra places for 2026.

“It’s correct we’ve moved to a different consultancy firm, with more experience of providing SEND capital projects. I wouldn’t say the previous work is lost, but gets built on.”