Fears that Helston Community College might lose its rebuild fund for a third time in the event of a Conservative defeat at the General Election have led to reassurances.

Last week Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg revealed that the college would see an almost complete rebuild of its upper school site, as just one of three schools in the county to receive major funding.

As a result, C-Block (maths, English and the school hall), D-Block (science and PE) and E-Block (technology) will all be completely rebuilt into modern facilities. 

The news prompted much celebration – but with a tinge of reserve, as the college has already missed out twice before on failed promises.

Not only did Cornwall Council last year have to admit it was unable to find the £10 million it had agreed in principle for a rebuild of C-Block, but back in 2010 the college had the money whipped from under their noses when the Building Schools for the Future programme was scrapped by the coalition – just after a general election. 

This understandably led to new headteacher Donna Bryant reacting to the news of the latest funding, through the Priority Schools Building Programme, with the comment: “They’ve been here twice before and we’re really hoping this time it’s for real.”

This week Cornwall Councillor Andrew Wallis, who was part of the team behind the latest successful bid, spoke out to reassure people with concerns.

He said: “Although Cornwall did have Building Schools for the Future taken back many years ago, I seriously doubt that the Priority Schools Building Programme 2 funding will be taken away, given the significant focus on shortage of school places / quality of school places issues.”

Although a specific figure for the funding has not been given, Mr Wallis said he believed that the work in Helston would cost in the region of £20 million, although neither the value nor scope of the work had been confirmed yet. 

He added: “At this moment in time, there is limited detail and it’s unlikely that we’ll know full details until autumn once all scoping works have been complete.”

The Priority Schools is set to contact successful schools directly during February or March this year to arrange a site visit, as part of an initial study. 

“This would look at what detailed work would be needed, together with any specific site issues, and the best method and timescale for the project decided. 

“We may identify some cases where physically adjoining blocks may also need to be addressed, due to site practicalities, despite their Property Data Survey condition need not being so acute. 

“As part of the study we will also look at the accommodation needs of the school and take that into account in deciding what works should be done,” said Mr Wallis.

The funding programme is due to run from 2015 through to 2021, with work on successful schools scheduled across the whole of this time, but the aim is for all the schools to know the rebuild plan by this autumn.