School closures: Dozens were at risk of collapse due to dangerous concrete

Buildings astatine 52 schools successful England were astatine hazard of abrupt illness owed to unsafe concrete, schools curate Nick Gibb has said.

Safety measures person since been enactment successful spot astatine those schools, which were deemed critical.

More than 100 others, which were antecedently thought to beryllium little astatine risk, person present been told to adjacent areas with the factual unless they are made safe.

The caller guidance follows the illness of a beam that was thought to beryllium safe.

Head teachers are present scrambling to marque alternate plans days earlier the commencement of a caller term.

Some pupils person been told they volition beryllium learning remotely, successful impermanent classrooms oregon astatine antithetic schools.

The authorities has not said erstwhile a database of affected schools volition beryllium published, drafting disapproval from the Labour Party.

A full of 156 schools person been confirmed arsenic having reinforced autoclaved aerated factual (RAAC) since 2022.

Of those, 52 were deemed a captious risk, and information measures person already enactment successful place.

Asked connected BBC Breakfast whether buildings astatine those 52 schools "could person perchance collapsed", Mr Gibb said: "Yes, and that's wherefore we took action."

A further 104 schools with confirmed RAAC were deemed non-critical.

Those schools had antecedently been told to make contingency plans successful lawsuit buildings needed to close.

On Thursday, they were told to adjacent buildings and rooms with RAAC unless they had information measures successful spot - which could see propping up ceilings.

Mr Gibb told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the guidance changed due to the fact that "a beam that had nary sign...that it was a captious hazard and was thought to beryllium harmless collapsed".

"What we discovered implicit the summertime was a fig of instances, successful schools and successful non-schools, successful England and extracurricular England, wherever RAAC that had been considered to beryllium a debased hazard really turned retired to beryllium unsafe," helium said, adding that immoderate grounds of this came "as precocious arsenic past week".

A "minority" of schools volition request to "either afloat oregon partially relocate" to alternate accommodation portion those measures are installed, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

But the DfE has not fixed a timeline for replacing the material, which was wide utilized until the mid-90s.

There are much than 20,000 schools successful England.

Two superior schools successful Bradford - Crossflatts and Eldwick - are among those affected, with parts closed to pupils aft the factual was identified, the assembly said.

Shazad Ismail's son, Yahya, is astir to spell into Year 5 astatine Crossflatts. Part of 1 gathering has been closed and impermanent classrooms are present being built.

"We're devastated," Mr Ismail told the BBC.

"The caput teacher sent a letter...it's going to wide impact a batch of children."

At Willowbrook Mead Primary successful Leicester, arrangements person been made for children from antithetic twelvemonth groups to be 2 antithetic schools, portion older pupils volition person to usage online learning. The caput teacher said successful a missive to parents: "I admit that the timing is acold from ideal."

Other schools that BBC News has gathered grounds on, which suggests they are besides affected, are:

Shadow acquisition caput Bridget Phillipson, who said Labour had not seen the afloat database of schools with confirmed RAAC, urged ministers to "come cleanable with parents and acceptable retired the afloat standard of the situation that we're facing".

On Thursday, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said affected schools would interaction parents directly, adding: "If you don't hear, don't worry."

She said said the program would "minimise the interaction connected pupil learning and supply schools with the close backing and enactment they request to enactment mitigations successful spot to woody with RAAC".

Teachers' unions person criticised the DfE for making the telephone truthful adjacent to pupils returning to school.

"It is perfectly disgraceful, and a motion of gross authorities incompetence," National Education Union wide caput Daniel Kebede said.

Julie McCulloch, manager of argumentation astatine the Association of School and College Leaders, said the determination was "clearly vital", but "the actions these schools volition request to instrumentality volition beryllium hugely disruptive, and this volition evidently beryllium worrying for pupils, families and staff".

"The authorities should person enactment successful spot a programme to place and remediate this hazard astatine a overmuch earlier stage," she added.

The hazard of wounded oregon decease from a schoolhouse gathering illness was said to beryllium "very apt and critical" by the watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) successful June, aft it highlighted concerns for schoolhouse buildings that inactive contained RAAC. It said determination were 572 schools wherever RAAC mightiness beryllium present.

RAAC is simply a lightweight "bubbly" signifier of factual utilized wide betwixt the 1950s and mid-1990s - usually successful the signifier of panels connected level roofs, arsenic good arsenic occasionally successful pitched roofs, floors and walls. It has a lifespan of astir 30 years.

The DfE said it sent a questionnaire to schools successful 2022, asking if they had immoderate confirmed oregon suspected cases of RAAC successful their buildings. If schools provided a affirmative response, this was past confirmed by DfE-commissioned engineers.

Schools that are acrophobic but person not yet filled retired the survey are encouraged to bash truthful astatine this website, the DfE said.

The Education Hub, a blog tally by the DfE, said based connected responses, schools with suspected RAAC would beryllium brought guardant for surveying. It said it hopes each schools suspected to incorporate RAAC volition beryllium surveyed wrong weeks.

The Local Government Association said it had been informing astir the hazard of RAAC since 2018.

"Leaving this announcement until adjacent the extremity of the summertime holidays, alternatively than astatine the beginning, has near schools and councils with precise small clip to marque urgent rearrangements and minimise disruption to schoolroom learning," said Cllr Kevin Bentley, its elder vice-chairman.

Liberal Democrat acquisition spokeswoman Munira Wilson said "pupil information is paramount but for this to travel retired conscionable days earlier word starts is wholly unacceptable".

The authorities says it has been alert of RAAC successful nationalist assemblage buildings, including schools, since 1994.

It said it has advised schools to person "adequate contingencies" successful spot since 2018, successful lawsuit affected buildings needed to beryllium evacuated.

The Welsh authorities has said it volition survey the country's schools and colleges to cheque if immoderate are made with RAAC.

Numerous nationalist buildings person been identified arsenic being astatine hazard due to the fact that of RAAC, including schools, hospitals and constabulary stations.

Is your child's schoolhouse impacted? Share accusation successful assurance by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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