CHILDREN at a Wirral primary school with no heating or hot food are pleading with the Prime Minister to step in and help them out.

Callum, who has just left Riverside Primary School in Seacombe, and his younger brother Daniel, who is still there, showed how badly improvements to the school building are needed.

In a heartfelt video to Boris Johnson, Callum said: "I am now in secondary school, but I wanted to let you know that hot dinners have not been served because the fan in the kitchen is broken.

"For lots of Daniel's friends this is the only hot meal they get, this is unacceptable, Mr Johnson."

The boys said the equipment in the school’s kitchen was so old that Riverside Primary could not get a five-star hygiene rating no matter how clean the kitchen was.

A four-star rating was the maximum that could be achieved.

Daniel added: "Please, prime minister, we know how busy you are but we need your help."

Another video, produced at the end of the summer term by the school, shows further issues including leaks and heating problems.

Wirral Council said it is working with the school to address the problems with the heating system and has ordered new kitchen appliances which it says will arrive "imminently", allowing hot meals to be served.

However, such solutions fail to overcome the major problem facing the school, which is the age of its buildings.

In June, Boris Johnson promised to give children a "world-class education" after months off school due to coronavirus.

A £1bn rebuilding programme was promised in order to deliver this, but three months on nothing has changed.

Paul Parsons, a parent at Riverside Primary, has started a fundraising campaign to get the school’s problems sorted.

His campaign, called 'Rebuild Riverside', seeks contributions from parents and other sympathetic locals to help solve the many things that need fixing at the school due to the age of the building.

So far the campaign has raised £1,840, but Mr Parsons is hoping more people can donate to deliver the change that is needed.

In an effort to raise funds the campaign has done raffles, bonus ball lotteries and asked local businesses to support their local school.

He has also set up a Go Fund Me page (https://www.gofundme.com/f/riverside-primary-school?sharetype=teams&member=5641842&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&pc_code=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=f8c9d8a76fb34c5c821ec487ae63df9e).

Mr Parsons said he wasn't naive and knew his campaign would not solve all of Riverside Primary's problems, but he wants to help out the school and was proud to be associated with it.

Despite the infrastructure problems, Mr Parsons said the school was brilliant and his campaign was not trying to criticise it or worry fellow parents.

He added: "Riverside Primary School has not had any renovations for many years.

"[But] this is a fantastic school with an amazing family atmosphere, where all kids are given a chance.

"They hold some prestigious awards for their work. In my opinion there is no better school in the area."

Christine Lahive, head teacher at Riverside Primary School, praised the campaign while highlighting the issue at the heart of the school's difficulties.

She said the heating system is "inoperable" at the moment due to a lack of filters, although Wirral Council has said the problem will be fixed next weekend in time for the colder weather.

But Ms Lahive added that these short-term fixes will not solve the main problem which is the sheer age of the school building.

She continued: "An attempt to rebuild the school under the Priority School Building Programme was unsuccessful in 2014.

"The building has two sites, one dating back to Victorian times and the other the early 1970s.

"The council is helping us with some short term solutions with the heating and ventilation, however we are constantly faced with issues due to the age of the building.

"We were delighted to hear the Government's announcement of £1bn for the redevelopment of schools' project and would like to be given the same consideration as the academies in applying for this funding which Riverside so desperately needs."

Ms Lahive was clear that the school is pulling together to succeed in spite of the problems.

She said: "Anyone who has ever visited Riverside will tell you that we have created the most beautiful and happy places for children to learn despite the poor facilities.

"The parent body forms a very vibrant and supportive part of the school community; such is their enthusiasm that one of the parents, unsolicited, set up a Go Fund Me page to help the school."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education, said: "To help ensure the school estate is safe and supports a high-quality education, we have announced an extra £560 million for school refurbishment this year on top of more than £1.4 billion of school condition funding already committed in 2020-21.

"Local authorities receive an annual allocation to invest in maintaining and improving their school buildings.

"Wirral local authority has been allocated £3.56m in financial year 2020-21 to invest in its schools, including Riverside Primary."