Brother and sister taught separately as one part of school building is shut down
A parent affected by school closures as a result of crumbling concrete says her two children will be taught at a different location as part of the building will be shut.
Scores of parents are scrambling to take time off next week as the holidays are being extended to allow building work to replace the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac). More schools are expected to announce closures in the coming hours as the government warned more than 100 educational establishments require work to make them safe before kids can arrive.
Among the parents facing a nightmare scenario is Jane Frances who revealed her daughter will be temporarily taught at a different school to her brother. Raac was found in the juniors site of Corpus Christi Catholic primary school in Brixton, south London.
A tapped off area at Parks Primary School, another affected by the closures (PA)The 46-year-old told the BBC: “It’s quite disruptive, but actually you can’t take any chances with the children’s safety and that’s what’s got to be done.
“I’m a teacher and I know the other side. It’s going to be a lot to think about very close to the start of term again.”
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MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy slammed the “shambolic response” by the Government in relation to the part closure of Corpus Christi. She added on X, formerly X: “Pupils at Corpus Christi in my constituency are being decanted from their usual classrooms at the start of the new school year because the Government left the buildings they learn in to crumble around them instead of investing in them.
“There are at least 156 schools in the same situation and thousands more with unsafe buildings. There are certainly other schools in this situation that we don’t yet know about and there may even be more in London.
Construction work at Edlwick Primary School (Lee McLean/SWNS)“The Government has known for a long time that many school buildings are not safe. Their shambolic response only adds to pressures facing teachers and pupils starting a new school year after years of cuts and amid a worsening recruitment and retention crisis in teaching.”
The Government has also been criticised for refusing to release a list of schools affected by the RAAC closures. Parents have been assured headteachers will let them know if they face a headache to start the new term.
The risk to pupils’ lives has been known for five years after a primary school partly collapsed in Kent. But documents seen by the Mirror indicate there could be chaos ahead for thousands of pupils.
The Department for Education has told schools affected by Raac to prepare “for the eventuality that are taken out of use and vacated at short notice” until they can be made safe. School chiefs are being asked “what it would take to implement that plan ahead of the start of term”.
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