Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith has voiced concern over plans to bus pupils at Spice Valley Middle School to Warwick Camp while refurbishment work is still being completed at the start of term.

Mr. Smith said Government should have done more to ensure that the massive redevelopment of the school was gradually phased in so that the school could have welcomed back its pupils after the summer break on September 10.

And he said he had doubts about the suitability of Warwick Camp as an alternative school building for the 280 pupils who will have to be bussed there every morning for up to a fortnight.

He said: "The amount of work going on at our schools today pales in comparison to the projects that were undertaken during the education restructuring.

"Two things we learned from all of the work and the inevitable delays are that we needed to be realistic about the schedules and phase the work, so that resources were not spread too thinly.

"The Government obviously put more on its plate than it could handle and the construction schedules overburdened the resources.

"It is extraordinary that the current Government had not done all in its power to ensure that Spice Valley was completed in time for the start of the school term."

The Education Ministry announced on Tuesday that the majority of its school building improvement work would be completed in time for the return of pupils.

However, Spice Valley, which is undergoing a $6 million improvement scheme, will not be ready due to additional problems that arose during the work.

Although most of the construction work will be finished, the ministry said it did not wish pupils and staff to be on the grounds while any work was still being carried out, no matter how minor.

So, following consultation with some teachers and Principal Patricia Holder, the decision was taken to bus students to the camp on a daily basis.

However, Mr. Smith said no matter how much preparation took place beforehand, the education of the children would still be affected.

He added: "It is clear that student learning is going to be disrupted with the use of Warwick Camp and I am not persuaded that it is a suitable site for hundreds of young children.

"Very few stairways have banisters, the embankments are unsecured and there is no field for the children to play on."