I have been following coverage of the Carillion crisis with interest, as I am the head of a primary school that has been left with a half-finished building project. Coverage has focused little on the realities of life after Carillion in situations like ours, and the human cost of outsourcing.
Our overcrowded school was promised two new classrooms by September 2017. From the beginning, there was a failure on the part of Carillion to engage with the realities of running a school. After false starts and delays, temporary classrooms were delivered in late August, leaving us in chaos at the start of term. The autumn was exhausting as we negotiated holes in the playground, lack of internet, weeks without heating and hot water, and electricity cuts.
The site is severely compromised, with the building compound and temporary classrooms taking almost half the play area. We cannot fit all the children outside at one time, so we have staggered breaks and stressful lunchtimes where half the children have to remain in the hall for far too long. Sports provision is also challenging.
Since January, there has been no activity on site. The project is still 20% off completion, and although new contractors have been found, the project is so far over budget that the county council seem frozen.
It is only when news coverage focuses on such stories that ordinary people will engage with the shocking waste of taxpayers’ money that all this represents.
Rachel Hornsey
Headteacher, Sutton Courtenay C of E primary school, Oxfordshire
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