EDUCATION bosses in the city are being urged to improve a Southampton college as soon as possible.

Civic chiefs are asked to start delivering the £8m refurbishment they promised to staff and students at Chamberlayne College for the Arts in Weston in 2018.

The school, which caters for 11-to-16-years-old has 472 students.

As previously reported, it was at risk of closure but in summer 2018 councillors at Southampton City Council pledged to invest £8m to revamp the existing school building and create new sports facilities at the site.

They have now said they are committed to improving the school.

But headteacher Nick Giles claims that while school staff and civic chiefs worked together to draw up plans between 2018 and 2019, it all stopped in May 2019 before going out to tenders. Mr Giles said it came as city bosses were trying to seek funding from the Department for Education(DfE).

Now both Mr Giles and Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith are calling on the council to refurbish the school as soon as possible. It is understood that work is expected to be completed by 2022 and Mr Giles said builders were expected on site last November.

He added: “Our children deserve better. My understanding is that the refurbishment will still go ahead. My concern is that because I have not had details about the numbers the investment may be reduced. The school needs £8m investment as a minimum and I am less concerned where the £8m comes from , but the school, the children and the families need it.”

Mr Giles said the school is set to become an academy and the investment is much-needed to ensure that an academy chain will take over. Mr Smith said it is imperative that civic chiefs honour their commitment. He added: “It is not fair on the staff and teachers, it is not fair particularly on the students and it is just another example of how the Labour council don’t care about people in Weston and Woolston. I’d want an answer as soon as possible with the commitment that the £8m is safe and it is about to be invested in the school.”

The number of pupils at the school has increased by 20% in the last year and is expecting to rise to 540 in September and 680 in 2021, according to Mr Giles.

In the recently released council budget there is a mention of "Chamberlayne refurbishment" with £7.4m allocated to it over the next two years. But there are no further details about it. Cllr Darren Paffey, cabinet member for aspiration, children and lifelong learning at the city council, said civic chiefs are committed to refurbishing the school. He added: "If this was going to remain a local authority school, we would have been able to start the works long ago. Sadly Government policy is forcing the school into an independent academy chain – so it’s only right that we negotiate some contribution from central government towards funding the exciting plans we developed before academisation. Once again Royston Smith is meddling but hasn’t bothered to get the basic facts. Perhaps he should have been focusing his efforts on getting a better deal for Southampton from the government. His obsession with attacking the council rather than checking basic facts only harms local residents and the Chamberlayne school community. ”

The DfE has been approached for comment.