Work to rebuild a Black Country primary school which was severely damaged by a suspected arson attack will take at least a year, education officials have conceded.
Wolverhampton City Council said that demolition work would begin later this week at Wilkinson Primary School, in Bilston, which saw four-fifths of its buildings destroyed when a severe fire broke out late on Monday.
The 350 pupils at the school, which is investigating whether it can provide temporary child care at a local church, have been told to stay at home until November 1.
Wolverhampton City Council's site and buildings strategy manager, Marc Webb, said temporary school accommodation would be in place after the forthcoming half-term break.
Mr Webb stated: "We're moving as swiftly as we can now to arrange some kind of temporary accommodation for the pupils and staff after half-term, while at the same time getting the site ready to rebuild the school.
"In the longer term, the school will have to be rebuilt. It's difficult to say at this stage how long that will be, but we are looking at least 12 months."
