Ellowes Hall: Gornal school tells pupils to wear extra clothing after heating breaks
Pupils at one of Dudley’s largest secondary schools have been told to wear extra clothing after the heating broke down.
Ellowes Hall Sports College in Lower Gornal has been without full heating since September.
Headteacher Alan Jasper admitted school days may have to start later, or be closed to some year groups in the event of a cold snap.
The main boilers have stopped working, leaving the school, which has around 1,000 pupils, without heating and hot water in some areas.
Emergency repairs will take more than three months to complete either side of Christmas – but school leaders said temporary heating and hot water would be in place during this time.
Mr Jasper said the boilers had stopped working due to ‘age and wear and tear’ and that a grant to cover the £270,000 repairs had been approved two weeks ago.
He continued: “When school reopened in September the two main school heating boilers were condemned due to age and wear and tear.
“The school immediately applied for an emergency grant to cover the costs of the repairs. As you would expect, we take the education and welfare of our students very seriously and hence, we will endeavour to keep the school open if at all possible during this time.
“Currently, the situation is monitored every day and at present there is no need to close the school.
“We will advise parents and carers when the temporary system is up and running, however, in the meantime students are advised to wear an additional layer of clothing under their school uniform if required.”
‘Over 50 per cent’ of the school has heating and hot water and areas including the dining hall, sports hall, English block, PE department and sixth form block have not been affected.
It comes after it was revealed last month that Ellowes Hall was given a zero star hygiene rating in March after inspectors uncovered poor cleaning standards in a kitchen which had no hot water. Hygiene has since been rated good following a re-inspection.
