Last week, I visited St. William of York School in Great Lever which has been one of the worst affected schools in the whole country and has faced significant challenges since returning from the Summer Holidays. I spoke at length with the Headteacher, Mrs Lightbown, about the challenges her team have faced in keeping the school open.

Scaffolding and supporting beams are found throughout the school building to protect against any problems with the concrete.

These measures mean the school is completely safe but there is still huge disruption with the school losing the whole of the main school hall, a number of whole classrooms, and partial sections of most other classrooms. This has resulted in the need for porta-cabins on the school play areas, resulting in the loss of 70% of outdoor play space.

The surveys on the building have been carried out and a report submitted to the Department for Education to carry out the necessary work. The report needs to be signed off and approved by the Secretary of State so that the tendering process can begin.

Mrs Lightbown and her team are deserving of huge praise. They have kept the school open and are delivering a full curriculum under immensely difficult circumstances. I am in awe of their hard work and dedication.

I have written to the Education Secretary to tell her the Government now needs to match the dedication of the school with the funding they need and commit to allow the work to go ahead in full so that the school can get back to normal.