New home for St John Vianney Catholic Primary school

Pupils at a West Denton primary are settling into their temporary new home, after the old school building was found to contain Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in June last year.

With the original premises due to be rebuilt over a three-year period, St John Vianney Catholic Primary School has relocated to a temporary, 100-metre-long, two-storey building on the same site.

“The school had to close with immediate effect due to the presence of RAAC – it was a real shock for everyone in school and the wider community,” said Allyson Thorpe, Headteacher at St John Vianney, part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.

“In the most wonderful and uplifting ways, it also served to show how resilient and supportive our school community was and continues to be. Schools across the region came together to offer us classrooms and school halls to house and educate our children in.

“It was a challenging and interesting time, but it served to show how amazing the staff and children were. Everyone pulled together to ensure our children continued to be educated on various different sites, leaving builders to try and work out a temporary fix, ensuring that our school was made safe for everyone.”

The rebuilding of the school is being funded by the Department of Education National Schools Rebuilding Programme, along with the cost of the temporary building, which was designed with the pupils in mind.

“Despite the design process of this temporary building being so fast-paced, the designers listened to the needs of our pupils’,” continued Mrs Thorpe. “This has resulted in us having an amazing, personalised building, including new technology, large classrooms, additional art rooms and practical rooms, sensory rooms, multiple intervention rooms, library, staff rooms, a new school hall, and kitchen.

“I don’t think many of us really believed it could happen so quickly, especially when there was just a large, muddy hole in the ground in July. Nevertheless, due to some Herculean efforts over the summer holidays, the pupils of St John Vianney were able to return to a new, temporary school in September.”

The opening of St John Vianney’s new home was marked by a visit from Bishop Stephen, of the Hexham and Newcastle diocese.

“We were delighted to welcome Bishop Stephen who came to bless our school and share his heartfelt good wishes with all our school community. This made us feel as though we had rejoined our Catholic family,” added Mrs Thorpe.

“As headteacher, I am so proud of all that we have collectively accomplished, and I am confident that our children will all continue to grow and thrive during this interesting period of St John Vianney’s ever-evolving journey through time.

“We will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of St John Vianney in April 2025, so, as we look to the future, we know that despite any and all adversity, together as a family of faith and school, we can collaboratively rise above the challenge and ensure that all the children in our care continue to get the very best education.”