Wet Wellington school may not be repaired by end of half term

A pipe burst at the Charlton School in Wellington, meaning water flooded all three floors and damaged lighting, electricity and ceiling panels.

It was initially thought the leak happened on Monday, but the school has now established the pipe burst on Friday evening.

Pictures sent to the Shropshire Star show collapsed ceiling panels, exposed cables and chairs stacked on tables amid the debris.

Contractors were drafted in to repair the damage, but Telford & Wrekin Council said it is not yet clear whether the school will be fit to open on Monday.

Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “There was a burst pipe at the school which caused damage, but it was mostly contained to administrative areas.

“Contractors have been contacted and are working at the school.”

Students were last in the school on Thursday last week , with a professional development day on Friday.

Charlton School is part of the multi-academy Learning Community Trust, which was set up in June of 2017.

Nobody at Charlton School or the trust was available to comment.

But earlier this week, a post on the school’s Facebook page said that a business studies catch up session scheduled for Thursday had been cancelled.

The building on Apley Avenue has only been open since 2016, when Charlton moved to the site and closed its Severn Drive base.

The new Charlton School sits on the site of the former Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College, which moved to Priorslee in 2015.

Charlton was the last school to be rebuilt within Telford & Wrekin as part of the Government’s Building Schools for the Future Programme.

Charlton was first established in 1962, as the Wellington Girls’ Modern School, and was renamed in 1974 when the school became co-educational.

The former school site in Severn Drive, Wellington, has been demolished.