FLOODWATERS at one Carlisle school reached a height of eight feet and forced the school to relocate for good.

Newman Catholic School was not the only one that faced upheaval in the floods but it was certainly was one of the biggest victims.

For almost five years the Catholic secondary school operated from the shell of the former Pennine Way Primary School in Silverdale Road, Harraby.

Headteacher John McAuley has praised the whole school for the resilience it has shown since the floods.

“The whole school community, supported by Cumbria County Council, the Diocese of Lancaster and the DfE, pulled together to face the challenges.

“Our governors, staff and pupils showed great resilience at this challenging time,” he said.

“In addition to the primary school buildings, we had to install temporary classrooms which were rented from Portakain. Many of these temporary classrooms accommodated specialist subjects such as science and design and technology.

“The PE department used the Sports Campus in Harraby. We also rented the former Harraby Community Centre as our exams centre.”

Mr McAuley said it was “terrible” to see the destruction of caused to the ground floor of their old school and the loss of resources and pupils’ work.

Its new sports hall and associated facilities also suffered extensive damage.

In early 2016 the decision was made that Newman Catholic School could not return to its home in Lismore Place. This summer it finally moved into a brand new building off Scalegate Road in Carlisle, in an area developing as St Cuthbert’s Village.

It has also been renamed St John Henry Newman Catholic School following the canonisation of the school’s patron, John Henry Newman.

“We moved to our fantastic new building at the end of August 2020,” said Mr McAuley.

“Staff worked very hard to ensure we were up and running for all of our pupils to start on September 3.

“There was a huge team effort to facilitate a smooth handover of the building from our building contractor.

“Everyone who has visited the new school is very impressed by the facilities, the outside space and the building.”