'There's human faeces there': Raw sewage floods car park at Devon school
Jacquie Bird speaks to headteacher Tessa Claridge about the troubles the school faces
The headteacher of a school in Dartington has resorted to inspecting the car park each day for raw sewage to decide whether it can open.
The River Dart Academy, for students who've been excluded from mainstream education, is on a list of schools that need to be replaced because it is at risk of flooding.
Now, a sewage issue means the school has had to close and resort to online learning for its students three times in the last three months.
A drain just outside the school's boundary overflows when it rains and that sends a torrent of raw sewage, toilet roll and sanitary products through the carpark of the school.
South West Water sends cleaners to the school most days to clear up the mess and has said it is treating the issue as a priority.
The agency said: “Improving our network around Dartington is a priority and we are carrying out surveys of our pipework, starting on Monday 26 February, to identity where improvements need to be made.”
However, the sewage is not the only issue. The River Dart Academy is on a priority list to be replaced by the Department for Education.
Rob Gasson, CEO of Wave Academy, which runs the school told ITV News West Country something needed to be done urgently.
He said: "This site was condemned by the Environment Agency in 2019 as a danger to life and limb because of the flooding risk.
"And so we were promised a new school, we are the number one priority I keep getting told. But five years after I've been told that, we're still here."
"The young people here have been permanently excluded from school, or at risk of permanent exclusion from school. And that means education hasn't worked for them. So they deserve the best.
"And this isn't the best we're doing the best we can for them and we've invested tens of thousands of pounds over the years into this site to make it workable for us and for them, but it's simply not good enough."
Tessa Claridge, Principal at the River Dart Academy added: "At the moment because it's dark in the morning, it's wellies on, torches on, searching everywhere. And there's human faeces there.
"As to whether we're opening or not, it's risk assessing the site to make sure we can open. You don't expect to be doing that in the morning."
Devon County Council, the landlord of the site, said it couldn't comment on the matter because the school was an academy.
The Department for Education said it was working with the school and the local authority to find a new site.