By Elizabeth Broughton

Last updated at 12:59, Tuesday, 09 December 2008

Carlisle's new Richard Rose Central Academy won’t open on time – because of bats.

The new academy, on the site of the former St Aidan’s school on Lismore Place, was supposed to be ready by September 2010, in time for the new school year.

But sponsor Brian Scowcroft revealed yesterday that bats in the building have delayed the work, meaning it now won’t open until January 2011.

This means that the Central Academy pupils will continue to be educated on the former North Cumbria Technology College site in Harraby, and pupils at the Richard Rose Morton Academy will also be left waiting.

The revelation came in an interview between Mr Scowcroft and Morton Academy pupil Alex McGeorge for the school newspaper yesterday afternoon.

Mr Scowcroft said: “We hope the new building at Morton will be finished by January 1, 2011, but we’re not sure because we were hoping to have the Central Academy finished by September 2010 but we’ve a problem with bats so that will now be January 1, 2011 so it might have a knock-on effect.”

The issue of bats was first raised last month when one of the academy’s directors said they had found some of the animals on site.

Kate Holt, director of 14-19 education at the Richard Rose Federation – the organisation which runs the two city academies – said: “There have been some bats to look after and they are a protected species.

“We had to do something for them to make sure they were safe before we’ve been able to do anything else.”

All species of bat are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal intentionally to kill, injure or take any bat, to disturb roosting bats, or to damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place used by bats for roosting.

Thirteen year-old Alex got the chance to meet the man behind his school as part of his role as editor of the student newspaper.

And it wasn’t all bad news for pupils at the Morton Academy. Mr Scowcroft revealed that when their school does open, he hopes it will be “really special”.

Asked how it would compare to the Central Academy, the plans for which were revealed last month, Mr Scowcroft said: “It will probably look better. We’ve got more experience now and we’ve a lot more space here so I think we can do something really special here.”

And, despite the criticism that has blighted the opening term of the academies, Mr Scowcroft said he was enjoying his first foray into education.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my involvement, I’ve found it much more hard work than I ever imagined but I’ve enjoyed doing it.”

And he joked: “So far so good, plenty of time for it to go wrong though.”

Despite the grilling from the year nine pupil, Mr Scowcroft enjoyed the chance to meet one of the students.

News of the delay comes after the News & Star revealed yesterday how government inspectors have been called in to the new academy to probe complaints – just three months after the school opened.

Ofsted officials are spending two days at the Harraby school this week to investigate whether there are any foundations to concerns raised anonymously.

It is understood these worries centre on health and safety issues, particularly problems about the fire alarm system and dining facilities. The school has been dogged by controversy since it opened in September with reports of ongoing problems linked to pupil behaviour and working conditions.

First published at 11:27, Tuesday, 09 December 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk