After more than a decade, one primary school is finally getting the rebuild it deserves

Teachers moving sandbags to stop floods, a shoddy sewage system and ‘explosive levels of gas’. Russell Scott Primary School has been plagued by these problems ever since their disastrous rebuild started in 2013.

A multi-million-pound redevelopment was completed by contractors Carillion in 2015, but the shambolic work left the 150-year-old school with a catalogue of problems. Steve Marsland, the headteacher in Denton for almost 30 years, has been leading the fight to end this decade-long era of misery.

“We had sewage coming up through the floors, we had explosive levels of gas, the school was flooded on a number of occasions by groundwater and sewage,” Mr Marsland told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“Carillion had joined up sewage and the groundwater pipes. When we did have downpours the drains couldn’t take the water, sewage was coming up through the grids and was flooding the school.

“Everytime we had a heavy rainstorm, teachers and staff put sandbags out to try and stop the water flooding the school.

“We had to abandon ship because of all these issues. We had to close the school, sometimes for a week or more whilst it was sorted out.

“You can’t have children coming in when sewage is coming up through the floors. Everything was ripped out and replaced, then we started again, again and again.”

Carillion went bankrupt in 2018, so the school’s significant structural problems were left without someone to pick up the bill to deal with the multitude of structural problems. The school didn’t have the finances to do it themselves, nor did the council.

Russell Scott Primary School, Clare Street, Denton. Credit: Google Maps

Mr Marsland continued: “If you go back to 2015 when we returned from two years out of this current building, we had been in a local secondary school that had been condemned. We had to ferry children back and forward in a decrepit double decker bus.

“The idea was that we would have short term pain for long term gain. Within the first week back serious problems started to rear their heads.

“There was something wrong with the alarm system. If we had a serious fire, someone could’ve died.

“Because of all the issues we had we got on BBC Panorama and that woke people up. If they didn’t realise, they did after that documentary, that the school was in a dangerous situation and one the school couldn’t put right itself.

“10 years later we’re finally at a point where the new school is going through planning. We’ve had to commission our own architects. Carillion was telling lies to the council about the faults with the council.”

According to the headteacher, the school was accused of lifting off bolts from manhole covers and leaving off manhole covers so it caused an accident.

Mr Marsland added: “They opened a public building for 80 staff and over 450 children that they didn’t know was safe.”

The Clare Street-based school has since been selected to benefit from the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) in December 2022. Three years later Tameside council signed off on a scheme to bulldoze the current site and build a modern new education facility.

The school, in conjunction with Tilbury Douglas and the Department for Education (DfE), have recently tabled a vision for what the new school could look like.

Russell Scott primary currently caters for up to 472 pupils, but the rebuild won’t see the new school expand. The proposed new two-storey building will comprise classrooms, a nursery, a designated SEN unit, admin spaces, assembly hall, kitchen and other ancillary spaces.

Also included in the plans are a new playing pitch provision, capable of accommodating a 5v5 football pitch, and high quality Multi Use Games Area (MUGA).

Planning papers read: “At ground floor level, the building will include an assembly hall and activity studio, infant classrooms including nursery, reception, infants and the SEN block on the southern part of the building which will have its own access directly via the secondary pedestrian access point from Crown Point Retail Park.

“Each classroom has been carefully designed to ensure direct access is obtained to external play areas.

“At first floor level, the proposed school building will include the staffroom, junior classrooms, library and practical classroom. The junior classrooms have been designed back-to-back with a small group room in between to allow for break out spaces.

“The proposals also include rooftop solar PV panels and a green roof area (a bio-solar roof). A designated walkway will ensure suitable maintenance. The rooftop plant will also be situated in the area above the kitchen.”

The new build is expected to take two years to complete, with work expected to start in Spring. Once the new school building is built on the western part of the site, students will be moved across and the original building will be bulldozed.

How the new Russell Scott Primary School in Denton could look. Credit: Tameside Council

After demolition of the old site is complete, the new playing fields and multi-use games area will be built over the course of a year. Once that is finished, it will be the first time since 2013 the children have had access to open fields on-site.

“When it’s done I hope to retire as I’ll be nearly 70,” Mr Marsland told the LDRS. “I can’t turn my back on this school as I’ve been headteacher for nearly 30 years.

“I’m not going to leave this to chance and to someone else without the background and the buy-in to the school community. The community has been fantastic and understands where the fault and where the blame should lie.

“I am passionate about this school and the children. I will make sure the children of Denton get what they deserve.

“If this had happened in Hale Barns or somewhere like that, I am sure this would’ve been dealt with earlier.”

The headteacher credited his staff for their excellent teaching work in trying conditions, his students for putting up with it all and the community for all their support. He also thanked local MP Andrew Gwynne, who has been central in putting the plight of Russell Scott firmly in the limelight in Parliament.

Mr Gwynne, MP for Gorton and Denton, said: “Russell Scott has a special place for me, not least because it was my own primary school. The shocking state it was left in by Carillion is nothing short of a scandal.

“Whilst to the untrained eye, the multi-million pounds upgrade had created a state of the art learning space, it very quickly became apparent that corners had been so badly cut that the foundations were shot to pieces, the sewers and drainage was inadequate and the roof was basically hanging on by fresh air. Those responsible for this work should hang their heads in shame.

“Tameside council came in and did basic remedial work to make the building safe but it was clear to me we needed a new school. The council couldn’t fund it and so I had to keep raising the issue in questions and debates in Parliament.

“Lobbying four successive Tory Education Ministers starting with Baroness Williams of Trafford it was Baroness Barran who was the one the penny dropped with and Russell Scott was fast tracked onto the school rebuilding programme.

“I also had to ensure that funding the new school remained a priority for the new Labour government as the chancellor looked to fill financial black holes.

“Thankfully Russell Scott stayed in the programme and the kids of one of the poorest parts of Denton will finally get that state of the art school they deserve.”

The next steps of the journey for Russell Scott Primary School is to see planning permission approved by the council, so building work can finally start. This time, the school is hoping contractors can finally get it right.

How the new Russell Scott Primary School in Denton could look. Credit: Tameside Council