- Kingsnorth Primary in Kent has suffered repeated closures since start of term
A primary school in Kent has been forced to close six times in just three months because of problems with its new £358,000 heat pump system.
The green energy source was installed at Kingsnorth Primary in Ashford, Kent, in the summer as part of an initiative to help schools cut their carbon footprint.
But classrooms have been left without power or heating several times since due to faults with the heat pump.
Kingsnorth was forced to close early on November 30, because neither the gas nor the electricity was working. This meant that no food could be provided for pupils.
It then suffered another power failure on December 6, closing the primary all day. It was closed again on January 10, 11, and 12.
Parents have spoken of their frustration at the problems, saying that they have been required to take time out of work to collect children every time the school is closed.
A mother, who asked not to be named, said: ‘As parents, we are getting annoyed now. Whenever there is an issue, we get random messages during the day to say ‘come pick your children up’.’
‘I work full time and I can’t always just leave my job. We keep being told it will get sorted as quickly as possible, but it has been going on for too long now.’
Another mother, who also asked not to be named, spoke of her concern.
‘I’ve got two children at the school and I work full time,’ she said. ‘I’m really worried I’m going to lose my job.’
‘I have to rely on friends and family to pick my children up.’
‘Once I could understand, but for it to happen this many times, they need to get it sorted.’
‘One of my children is in Year 6 and we are constantly told how important the SATs are, but they have lost five days of learning.’
An air source heat pump works by absorbing heat from the environment and transferring it inside. They are said to be up to 300 times more efficient than traditional gas boilers.
Aquila Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust, which runs 16 schools in Kent, commissioned four of the pumps as part of the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
In addition to the £358,000 funding from the government for the pump at Kingsnorth, Brenzett Church of England Primary on Romney Marsh received £243,945, St George’s Church of England Primary in Sheerness received £522,000, and St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy in New Romney received £256,576.
While they have also had what has been described as ‘teething problems’ with their pumps, it has not been on the same scale as Kingsnorth.
A spokesperson for the Trust apologised for the school closures and promised that it is doing everything possible to rectify the situation.
They said: ‘We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused to Kingsnorth Primary School’s pupils and families and we want to assure the community that we have been, and are continuing to, do everything within our power to rectify this situation as quickly as possible.
‘Our priority has always been to keep Kingsnorth open, but there have been occasions where we have had no choice but to close due to a complete failure of the heating system, electrical power issues, and the associated wider safety concerns.
‘Unfortunately, the response and site attendance by contractors hasn’t been as quick as we have needed it to be, and we have continued to apply pressure and emphasise that the issues need to be addressed urgently.
‘We have had electrical and mechanical engineers on-site testing electrical load capacities, as well as finding an alternative option to have a more robust temporary heating solution in place.’
The Trust added that they are planning to install an additional power source as a failsafe from the week commencing January 22.
‘We have planned to install an additional power source for part of the new heating system so we can remove some of the electrical load from the school’s electrics and have the system fully operational as intended,’ the spokesperson explained.
‘These works are planned for the week commencing January 22 while the school remains fully open and operational.
‘Once this has been completed, we will have all specialists on-site to reinstate the air source heat pump system.
‘Should there be any additional unforeseen issues, we will have the resources to hand to identify and deal with them immediately.’
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