Work to rebuild a fire-damaged Calderdale school is now complete, with a new and improved building ready to welcome pupils.
On 1 February 2022, an arson attack at Ash Green Community Primary in Mixenden, near Halifax caused a huge fire, destroying four classrooms and other areas in the upper site of the school.
The damage was so extensive that Calderdale Council had to demolish the affected building, to make sure the site was safe. The rest of the school was also smoke damaged, so a big clean-up was needed for the school to stay open. This was supported by Calderdale communities, with £20,000 donated through a Community Foundation for Calderdale fundraiser and £8000 through a crowdfunding campaign as well as other donations.
Work is now complete on a new-build facility connecting to the existing school. The new building, which is funded by the Department for Education Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA), includes improved facilities to boost the learning experience for pupils. The facility includes bigger classrooms, with level floors throughout with ramps to make the building safer and easier to use for people with mobility issues.
Additional space around the school, allocated by the Council, has also allowed the creation of a new all-year-round outdoor play area / Multi-Use Games Area, supporting improved outdoor provision and opportunities for children to be more active.
The new school building has been designed with sustainable features including solar panels and air source heat pumps to enable the building to generate its own energy – contributing to the Council’s priority for climate action and Calderdale’s ambitious target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2038.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, Cllr Adam Wilkinson, said:
“The arson attack at Ash Green Primary School was devastating for the school and the wider Mixenden area, but it also brought the whole community together with a shared desire to support the clean-up, as well as the recovery and rebuilding process.
“The fantastic new facility is now complete and ready to welcome pupils. A lot of hard work has gone into ensuring that the project could progress as quickly as possible and the new building has been designed to provide improved facilities and additional outdoor spaces to support a great learning environment to help young people achieve their best.”
Headteacher of Ash Green Community Primary School, Mungo Sheppard, said:
“We are immensely proud to officially open our new Key Stage 2 block and play areas.
“After the devastating fire of February 2022, we promised to ‘Build Back Better’. Our whole school community pulled together and with magnificent support from Calderdale Council, the Department for Education and a list of people far too long to thank personally- they know who they are- we were able to work with Code Building Solutions to design and build this wonderful new area of our school.
“The new facility enables our children to have a fantastic learning environment and the whole Ash Green community to have a school to be even more proud of.”