Andy Burnham steps in to help historic school hit by £4m bill

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has stepped in to help Trafford’s only Grade II-listed primary school in its bid to raise £4m to fix a leaking roof and draughty old sash windows.

Mr Burnham visited the 120-year-old Stamford Park Primary School in Hale to talk to staff and children after appeals for help from headteacher, Sarah Price, and chair of governors, Emily DeAbaitua.

Ms DeAbaitua told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the school had ‘fallen through gaps’ in terms of its funding.

“The council has its hands tied with the limited maintenance budget for schools,” she said. “We are the only Grade II-listed primary school in the area.

“Our energy costs for 2022/23 were the highest per pupil in Trafford. As a listed building, any maintenance being carried out needs to be done by specialist contractors.”

She said the estimated cost of the work that needs carrying out amounts to about £4m.

“We see ourselves as custodians of this beautiful old building, but the roof leaks and many of the windows need replacing," she added.

She said that the school had an external storage building for sports equipment, but it needed to be repaired.

“We’ve been quoted £60,000 to have the work done, when for any other school it would be a fraction of that,” she said.

Speaking from the school’s computer room, head pupil Edie Lyons, 11, said: “It’s a really good school to come to and I like all the historic features that we have from Victorian times. There were leaks in this room recently it was out of use, and we had to use our iPads but it’s OK now."

Fellow head pupil Seb Lea, 10, said: “We often do classes about Victorian times. The school has lots of chimneys from a time when used fires for heating.”

Mr Burnham mingled