Date set for blaze school rebuild

Wilkinson Primary headteacher Tina Gibbon said workmen would be moving onto the site on July 30, after the end of the summer term.

Planning bosses at the city council approved plans to build a new £8.2million school at a meeting on Tuesday. Mrs Gibbon today spoke of her relief after a difficult 18 months.

Arsonists targeted Wilkinson Primary, in Bilston, in October 2010. No-one has ever been caught.

She said: "I am just so relieved that the plans have been approved and we can start looking forward to our new school.

"It's been a very long journey to get here but it feels like we are so close now.

"I know it means a lot to the staff, parents and the whole community as well. Rather than just promising them something, we can now say it's happening." Mrs Gibbon said parents had the chance to view the plans before they were submitted to the council and that she had "no negative comments".

She added: "Preparatory works have already started. Some of the trees have been prepared to be cut down. Next month demolition will start. The existing buildings or what's left of them will be coming down. Staff and parents have all had an input on the new school buildings. It will be lovely to watch it grow."

The school's 347 pupils have been using 16 mobile buildings installed on the site since the fire. The new school will open in September 2013. It will be a two-storey building with classrooms and group rooms clustered around central activity hubs.

The new school will accommodate an extra 105 places as part of the council's efforts to cope with a baby boom in the city.