04 March 2026
Dear parents and families,
You will be aware that MWA has been going through a sustained period of investment and improvement in our buildings and facilities since joining the CLF in December 2023. This letter contains an update on this work; what has been completed and what works remain.
In this letter:
Drainage and dealing with floods
Roofing works
Heating
Classroom and corridor refurbishment
IT upgrades
Dining facilities
Draining and dealing with floods
The sustained rainfall in January and February created significant problems with localised flooding both in our school car park and in playgrounds and courtyard areas. Over the half-term holiday, remedial works were undertaken to improve the drains in the areas between H, A and R blocks. Gutters and gullies have also been cleared. We hope that our resilience to the Somerset weather is improved and that the conditions that we were managing towards the end of last term will not be repeated.
Roofing works
The roofing works at the front of school, on A and B blocks, have now been completed and the scaffolding has been taken down. Contractors are due on site in the early part of this week to remove the remaining Heras fencing and the welfare units that are currently just next to our bike sheds. This will mean we expect to re-open our usual KS3 gate which is between H and B blocks, giving our KS3 pupils a much larger and safer waiting area at the start of the school day.
Heating
Having just replaced the entire heating system for blocks F and D (English and Maths) in the last summer holiday, we were disappointed that the heating systems for A and B blocks failed during the Christmas holiday. During the half-term break, attempts were made to fix this fault. However, it appears that there are further faults that are not visible and require tracing to be undertaken. In the meantime, industrial heating units have been rented to maintain temperatures in classrooms and offices.
Classroom and corridor refurbishment
Over the February half term, our Refocus room was repainted and new furniture was installed. The newly repainted classrooms in D block had new carpets fitted. New tables and chairs were purchased and installed for one of our English classrooms as well. We are still awaiting the delivery and installation of replacement blinds for classrooms in H blocks (languages and humanities). During the Easter break, all of our English classrooms in F block will be repainted and replacement blinds installed. We are also installing new barrier matting in the several entrances to A block, again to improve conditions during wet weather.
IT upgrades
As part of a long-term schedule to upgrade the IT facilities across our school, we have been replacing outdated data projectors in classrooms with high resolution display panels. We have also invested in new laptops – fully compliant with JCQ regulations – for children entitled to a PC as part of their exam access arrangements.
Dining Facilities
Our biggest project at present is the building of a new canteen in K block (previously the school library). The extension work is well under way, and our contractors expect to hand the building over to us during the month of April. However, we are slightly disappointed to inform our school community that the canteen will not be operational until September 2026. This delay has not been caused by our contractors, or the CLF project management team, but instead by the National Grid. We understand that their works outside of school grounds will require road closures and this cannot take place until August. It may be that we are able to use the building for indoor seating at lunchtime even before the new kitchen becomes operational. We are awaiting further advice on how we might make use of our new building through the summer term.
As part of the social values contribution that our dining facilities contractors undertake, the area of old raised beds and garden between A and R block will be re-landscaped.
Whilst all these projects can cause short-term inconvenience for students and staff, we know that the improvements to our learning environment will be worth it in the long run. We are grateful to, and proud of, all our students who have been patient during this period and always good-tempered and respectful towards the many contractors and companies working on site.
As usual, please do contact us if you have any questions or concerns about our school environment or refurbishment projects.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs H Jones
Principal
