Parents are "disgusted" at plans which will see hundreds of South Derbyshire students taught at home and in non-school buildings for at least eight months – after years of concerns over the school's disrepair.

Mercia Academy (formerly William Allitt) in Sunnyside, Newhall, was evacuated and closed at lunchtime on Friday, November 17, and now an update on where students will be taught in the interim has been provided.

Its emergency closure was linked to "safety concerns related to the building", which the school later detailed included the need for immediate tests for electrical faults, roof structure integrity, mould and asbestos.

The Falcon Education Academies Trust, which took over the troubled school last summer, detailed that students would be taught in three separate locations in Swadlincote, Newhall, and in Winshill, Staffordshire.

These locations would be the Sharpe's Pottery Museum in Swadlincote, run by a charity and backed by South Derbyshire District Council; the now-derelict former Newhall Day Centre, closed by Derbyshire County Council last October; and the Freemasons' Hall at Ashfield Lodge, home of the society's provincial grand lodges for both Derbyshire and Staffordshire, close to Burton town centre – 2.5 miles away.

The trust also detailed that a temporary school would be built in vacant space on the current site but that this is not expected to be ready for this academic year, meaning students will be taught remotely and in non-school buildings for at least eight months.

There will be a rota system on when students will attend the sites in Newhall and Swadlincote, with the current temporary locations not having enough capacity to accommodate all pupils simultaneously, meaning those year groups will be remote learning for some of each week for eight months.

This has been dubbed "disgusting" by academy parents who feel this means their children are being "failed" after years of concerns about the building.

Meanwhile, plans for a permanent school building on the current footprint of the challenged school continue to progress but with no timeline available and no work yet to take place a year on since it was confirmed to finally be going ahead – after two decades in limbo.

The academy trust update also revealed that the running of the school would be passing over to a new academy chain, just over a year on since it took control.

Falcon says the new academy chain would be the Lionheart Educational Trust, which runs 14 schools in Leicestershire.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked Falcon why it is passing over the reins after just over a year and a couple of months after changing the school's name.

It was also asked if the move had anything to do with the condition of the school buildings.

Falcon said its agreed plan was always to pilot the "transformation" of schools with "long-term challenges" and then hand over to a different trust, approved by the Department for Education, with Lionheart being confirmed earlier this month.

Lionheart has been approached for comment and asked if it is aware of the existing issues with the school building and if it is committed to a new build.

It is expected to take over Mercia Academy from April next year.

Lionheart chief executive Kath Kelly said: "Lionheart Educational Trust has recently been selected by the Department for Education as the new sponsor for Mercia Academy and therefore we are currently undertaking our due diligence, which is standard procedure when a new school joins a multi-academy trust. 

"Assuming this runs smoothly, we expect that Mercia Academy will officially join Lionheart Educational Trust before the end of the academic year. 

"We are aware of the precautionary measures taken to close Mercia Academy's school buildings and are working with both the Falcon Academies Trust and Mercia's leadership team to make robust educational plans for all pupils until a return to the site is possible.

"We are fully committed to the proposals formed by the Department for Education which will see a brand new school built for the children of Newhall and surrounding areas of Swadlincote.

"We're very excited to be able to work in partnership with the Mercia team to ensure the new purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities best suit the education of all young people.

"Lionheart Educational Trust, with 14 East Midlands schools, has a strong track record of working with schools with challenges, including where site redevelopment is required."

A letter from Falcon to parents and carers, written by Angela Barry, the trust's chief executive, late last week said: "I want to again say thank you for all your patience and understanding since we closed Mercia Academy at the end of last week.

"Since then, the Academy, Falcon Education Academies Trust (the school's current sponsor) and Lionheart Educational Trust (the incoming sponsor) have all been working extremely hard both to assess the defects in the school building that led to the closure and to find sites that could be used for face-to-face education.

"I am pleased to say we have made real progress on identifying alternative sites and am extremely grateful to the many organisations and individuals who have offered space, made introductions and put themselves forward to help.

"We are being supported by community organisations and using public buildings so it is vital that students are polite, respectful and follow instructions without argument.

"We know that all our students can do this but if there are any who do behave in an unacceptable way we will not be able to accommodate them at these sites.

"Our plans above will continue to evolve as we seek to provide the best possible education for our students.

"This includes moving forward as quickly as possible with the plans to provide new temporary accommodation on the site of Mercia Academy.

"This will be a high-quality new learning environment for use while the new school is built as part of the School Rebuilding Programme.

"The Department for Education (DfE) is fully supportive and committed to bringing forward this exciting development.

"We are working with the DfE to procure a contractor to design and build the temporary school.

"The timeframe for the temporary school is not yet known and so, while we do not expect it to be ready this academic year, a further update on timescales will be provided in due course."

Heather Wheeler, South Derbyshire MP, told the LDRS: "I met the principal, Jackie Cooper and the Department of Education representative, Carol Gray, on site at the school to discuss the latest news and the way forward for the pupils.

"After a herculean effort very soon all pupils will be able to be taught in face-to-face lessons in local buildings, the farthest a 2.5-mile distance from Sunnyside.

"Those parents particularly concerned with pupils taking their mock GCSEs will also be relieved that matters are in hand to lead up to them, again with face-to-face lessons.

"I have asked to be kept informed on the next steps regarding bringing everyone back together in temporary classrooms and they have told me they are in the process of organising Plan A (immediate short-term measures) then Plan B (longer short-term measures) and then finally Plan C arrangements for the decant of the school, all together, whilst the new school is built.

"I appreciate this has been a shock to everyone involved but I have every faith in the school's principal and the senior team, some of whom I also met, and a way forward has been found to make sure the pupils have face-to-face teaching."

Mercia Academy has 588 students on roll and the school buildings on Sunnyside have been targeted for replacement for around 20 years.

In early 2022, the first £7 million phase of £20 million works to demolish and rebuild the school made it into the county council budget.