A new Castle Rushen High School: the story so far

We look at back at plans for redevelopment after new timetable published

An estimated timeline's been published for the new Castle Rushen High School.

We've been taking a look back at the story so far.

Years in the making

Built in 1961, the current building has served the community for over 60 years.

It started with 480 students, but piecemeal extensions have been added over time, and the school now caters for nearly 900 - almost doubling capacity in that time.

But, for nearly a decade now, the need for a new school building at Castle Rushen has been clear to staff, children and local MHKs.

In 2021, a report found the site was "increasingly not fit for purpose" and a "below par" environment for students.

Money was first set aside in the 2016 Budget for the build, with £50,000 allocated for initial design work.

It was thought the project as a whole would cost between £30-40 million.

Despite being described as "essential" then, a new school was still expected to be seven years away - i.e. this year.

But here we are in 2023, and new plans for the build haven't even begun, let alone any building work.

Funding timeline

Since that first £50,000 back in 2016, multiple budgets have promised to invest in the new school.

In 2018, then Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan allocated a further £445,000 to the project, taking the total to £500,000.

The following year, then Education Minister Graham Cregeen admitted that, despite coming to the end of the design phase, there was a discrepancy between what his department wanted financially and what Treasury was willing to give.

In June 2020, £2 million was approved to start work on four new football pitches and a cricket pitch so that the new school could be built on the site of the old fields.

This year, while there was nothing in the budget for the new build, money was set aside for a new mobile classroom at the school, costing £230,000.

To date, that makes £2,725,000 already spent on the new facility.

What now?

Despite nearly £3 million already being spent and apparently "coming to the end" of a design phase in 2019, it seems we're now back to square one.

Current Education Minister, Julie Edge, has published a new timeline for the work, and first on that list? Hiring a new design team.

It's hoped positions including a quantity surveyor, architect and planning supervisor will all be in place by 29 February 2024.

The design phase is then expected to start (again), and has been split into three stages - all needing approval and expected to take 106 weeks.

Final Tynwald approval will then be sought for the designs in February 2026.

A tender process will also need to be carried out for the works.

If that all goes to plan, there could actually be spades in the ground by November of that year.

Construction's then likely to take 30 months, with a potential completion date of March 2029 - 13 years after government first contemplated updating the school.

Ms Edge has stressed that these timelines are only estimations at this stage.

You can see the full schedule for the work here.