A 16-year-old girl is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of arson in the early hours of this morning.
The girl is being questioned in connection with a blaze at Blatchington Mill School in Frant Road last night. She was arrested for arson with intent to endanger life, or reckless as to whether life endangered.
The school’s head messaged parents this afternoon to say the school would not reopen until next week at the earliest.
Head Kate Claydon said: “We know how challenging yesterday’s news about the fire at our school site will have been for all our families to hear.
“We appreciate the messages of support that we’ve received from families and our wider community and would like to thank you for your patience as we work through the implications of this incident.
“We are now able to let you know that police are at the early stages of a thorough investigation into this incident and have a suspect in custody on suspicion of arson.
“At this time there is currently nothing to suggest any further safety concerns in relation to this fire. We will update you further when we are in a position to do so.
“We are continuing to work with colleagues in the key services and the local authority to understand when we are likely to be able to reopen the site to staff and students.
“Currently, we are being advised that the site should remain closed to staff and students for the rest of today and tomorrow.
“By the end of the school day tomorrow we hope to be in a position to share longer-term plans – the safety, education and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our highest priority.
“We will use the same model of home learning for tomorrow as we have shared today – your children should be able to see a relevant KS3 or KS4 activity posted on their subject Google Classroom pages and are encouraged to work through their usual timetabled subject lessons to our normal school day timings.
“As with today, we will provide an overview of the home learning activities for each subject area tomorrow morning.
“Thank you again for your continued support, patience and resilience as we work through this as a community.”
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “We have arrested a 16-year-old girl on suspicion of arson following a fire at a school in Hove yesterday.
“Police supported the fire service at Blatchington Mill School in Hove from around 6pm.
“No injuries were reported.
“An investigation was launched alongside the fire service and a 16-year-old girl from Hove was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. She remains in custody at this time.
“Blatchington Mill School is fully co-operating with our inquiries as we look to understand the full circumstances of the situation.”
Councillor Jacob Taylor, co-chair of the council’s Children, Families and Schools 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.”
