Blatchington Mill school fire update
Blatchington Mill School, in Nevill Avenue, Hove is currently closed following a fire at the school on the evening of Wednesday 17 January.
While the confirmed details are limited at this early stage, the fire took place in the east area of the school and was quickly attended to by the emergency services and brought under control and extinguished before midnight.
All members of staff and visitors were evacuated safely. Starting today, the relevant services, agencies and organisations will begin their on-site investigations, make the site safe, and determine the scope of damage to the premises.
This will be critical to informing the wider decisions being taken by the school’s senior leadership team in reopening the school as quickly as possible and communicating this to students, parents and carers.
Blatchington Mill headteacher, Kate Claydon, said: “While we do not have many confirmed details to share at this time, the safety, education and well-being of our students and staff is our highest priority.
“This situation is going to require patience and resilience as we partner with key services and the local authority to reopen the school.
“We appreciate the outpouring of support and goodwill that we have received from residents, other schools, and our community.
“We will continue to keep Blatch families updated throughout the days and weeks to come with details as they are confirmed.”
Councillor Jacob Taylor, co-chair of the council’s Children, Families and School’s Committee, said: “We’re very sad to hear about the devastating fire at Blatchington Mill.
“My heartfelt thanks to all the emergency services who attended overnight to get the fire under control and manage the situation.
“Council staff will be working closely with our colleagues in the school to do all we can to keep disruption to pupils to a minimum.”