Andy Drozdziak
The Raac scandal has been labelled ‘shambolic’ after a Catholic school in Durham was forced to hold lessons in hotels and playing fields.
St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham, which is currently closed due to Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) in the building, said it is planning to use the Radisson hotel for two days this week for sixth form lessons. The school said staff had toured potential teaching space at the University of Durham.
Speaking about St Leonard’s– some of whose pupils live in his constituency – North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones said: “The irony about St Leonard’s is it was one of the schools included in the Building Schools for the Future programme which was cancelled by this Government.
“Now, 13 years later, we are still waiting for a new school building and these problems have clearly arisen.
“The Government have got to take full responsibility for this while parents are facing this very worrying situation.
“The response appears to be shambolic, with no plan on what to do.”
There were other Catholic schools which were affected. Holy Trinity Catholic Academy, Newark-on-Trent was also affected by Raac, with issues being identified on site. Arrangements are currently being put in place to ensure the school opens as planned next week.
Meanwhile, the reopening of St Edward’s Catholic Voluntary Primary, Swadlincote, Derbyshire has been delayed by a week, BBC News reported. Darlington Borough Council said St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School will not open until 11th September amid safety fears.
Three of the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust’s schools in the North East have been affected by Raac, St James Catholic primary school in Hebburn, St John Bosco primary school in Sunderland and St Bede’s, Peterlee.
The Trust released a statement. “The education and safety of our pupils remains paramount, and we are currently working with headteachers to finalise alternative arrangements,” the Trust statement said, adding that it is ‘committed’ to ‘face to face’ learning or ‘virtual’ if this is not possible.
At Holy Family Catholic Secondary School, Keighley, West Yorkshire, P Block and the kitchen have been taken out of use and pupils are set to return to school in phased stages by 11th September, BBC News reported.
At St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive, Eltham, the hall, gym, canteen, drama studio and boys’ and girls’ toilets are affected by Raac. The school plans to open mobile toilet blocks and is hiring a marquee as a space for the students to eat and prepare food.
At Corpus Christi Catholic School in Brixton, junior school pupils are being relocated to a temporary location after Raac was found in a roof, a statement from 18th August said.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted the Government and her predecessors have done an “excellent job” in responding to the aerated concrete crisis, but Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) rejected this, saying that the concrete crisis in schools “reinforces” for parents the notion that the Government does not care about education.
Picture: St Bede’s in Peterlee is just one of the schools affected by Raac problem