Schools in Westmorland and Furness have undergone £2 million worth of improvements over the summer holidays.

The upgrades were made possible by a collaboration between council officers, schools, and contractors.

The annual budget for school maintenance is £4.3 million, and it was initially expected that the summer maintenance programme would allow for the completion of works amounting to just over £1 million.

However, further assessments at each school identified additional priorities, leading to an expansion of the works.

The extensive work carried out across several council-owned schools included a range of safety, quality, and energy efficiency initiatives, as well as internal decoration to upgrade school facilities in time for the start of the autumn term.

The safety and compliance of facilities were vastly improved, with asbestos found in some schools safely removed, and water tanks repiped and renewed.

Training was also delivered to school staff on building safety and awareness.

Fire systems were either upgraded or renewed to provide better detection and warning of potential fires.

The layout of some buildings was reviewed to increase fire safety, with builders working flat out, including weekends, to reconfigure the footpath of lower floors, build walls, and add stairwells to create physical barriers.

Other areas had fireproofing installed to create a safer environment.

The extensive work carried out across several council-owned schools included a range of safety, quality, and energy efficiency initiatives (Image: Westmorland and Furness Council) Externally, reconstruction works were carried out on walls and windows to improve the physical integrity of buildings.

Roof repairs, and in some cases renewals, took place, as well as new guttering, skylight installations, and additional insulation to make buildings more comfortable and reduce running costs through loss of heat.

Councillor Peter Thornton, Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet member for highways and assets, said: "We owe it to our children to give them safe and comfortable school buildings and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to do a substantial amount of work during the summer break.

"We want to make the best use of our funds and these projects help to cut running costs whilst also providing better and safer environments for our pupils, meaning it’s money well spent."

Councillor Janet Battye, Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said: "We have a duty to provide enough school spaces in the best facilities we can across Westmorland and Furness and our maintenance programme is vital to ensuring buildings are fit for purpose, welcoming and safe.

"These works have been carried out while the schools have not been in use, minimising the impact on our young people and school staff and giving all building users a great start to the new school year in nicer, fresher and more comfortable buildings."

John Ruskin School in Coniston was one of those to benefit from the summer works.

Headteacher Peter Blackburn said: "I’m really pleased with the investment from Westmorland and Furness Council and the resulting improvements in the school.

"It has provided a much-improved learning environment, which is absolutely brilliant."

Further work is planned to take place in other areas during the rest of this financial year, to continue to bring improvements to council schools and buildings.