STAFF and pupils at two Chelmsford schools which are in a very poor state of repair are going to have to wait another five years before they can move into a new building.
Lawford Mead Infant and Junior in Trent Road were two of only three schools in Essex to be told they would have a new building as part of a government private finance initiative (PFI) announced in May last year.
And although the heads have been shown the baseline design for the two-storey new build they have been told it looks likely it will be the latter part of 2017 before the work is completed.
Head teacher of the junior school Dawn Baker, who along with infant head Janette Quinn was briefed by county council officials recently, said: "We have just learnt that the Government is doing the new builds in batches and we are in the 2014-2015 tranche, which is when all the planning and feasibility work will be done.
"We have been told building should begin in 2016, and hope the new school will be ready for use by the end of 2017.
"We have seen the baseline design which they are using across the country, and we know we will have two storeys.
"Nearer the time we can work with the team to tweak the design so we can make best use of the new facility."
Although the two schools will share the same building they will remain as separate entities with their own head teachers and governing bodies.
The plan is for the infant school and nursery to have the ground floor and the juniors the top floor.
They will share a dining hall and sport facilities, and there will be space for 420 pupils.
When work does start, both heads are optimistic disruption to daily life will be kept to a minimum.
Mrs Baker said: "The plan is to build behind the schools on the field so we will not have to be moved while construction is under way.
"It means the new school will be set further back from the road and the playing fields will then be in front of it rather than at the rear."
The third Essex school to get the go-ahead for a new build is the Edith Borthwick, in Bocking, which has 160 pupils aged from 3 to 19 and is being rebuilt from a £40m government grant aimed specifically at special schools and those most in need.
A council spokesman said: "Essex County Council is currently working closely with the Education Funding Agency and the school on detailed plans for the proposed new school.
"Details of this will be announced in due course once the proposals and timescales have been agreed."
Lawford Mead schools are both 56 years old and met the criteria for the Government's £2bn Priority School Building Programme, as the cost of repairs to their existing buildings would cost more than a fifth of a new build.
The junior school suffers from a leaking roof, while the infant school has badly fitted windows and an electrical system that needs replacing.
Governors from the two schools will attend a meeting in London later this month when it will be explained to them exactly how the PFI works, following the Government's review of the system.
