A local council has provided an update on the schools in Buckinghamshire that have been identified as containing dangerous aerated concrete in their structures.
A councillor for Buckinghamshire Council has described the past week, during which dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been discovered at four schools in the county, as an 'incredibly challenging' time.
The Department for Education published a list of all the schools in England that were at risk of collapse due to the presence of RAAC, a material that has come to the end of its 30-year lifespan, yesterday (September 6), including three schools within Buckinghamshire Council's authority boundaries and one in the domain of Milton Keynes City Council.
Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services said that Buckinghamshire Council was continuing to work closely with Waddesdon School near Aylesbury, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Chalfont St Peter and St Michael's Catholic School in High Wycombe but was happy to say that the impact of the RAAC on students' education would be 'extremely minimal'.
Waddesdon School underwent a structural survey this week, which identified RAAC as being present only in the school's restaurant area, allowing all teaching blocks to be opened and a return to face-to-face learning for all year groups.
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has already undertaken remediation works and is fully open with no disruption to normal teaching arrangements.
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St Michael's Catholic School informed the council that RAAC was previously on-site and that remedial works are currently underway, with arrangements in place to teach students in temporary blocks on-site as required to ensure there is no disruption to normal teaching arrangements.
Denbigh School in Milton Keynes reportedly only contains RAAC in its sports hall building, which has now been closed to students and staff as remedial works commence. All students began the September term yesterday (September 6) with no disruption to face-to-face teaching.
Councillor Cranmer said: “This has been an incredibly challenging week for schools up and down the country that were already busy getting students back for the start of the school year and I applaud all of our school staff for their hard work at this particular time, given that our schools have been inundated with questions and concerns about this matter.
“I am really pleased that the impact on Buckinghamshire students is extremely minimal; the vast majority of our students are returning to a new school year this week under their usual arrangements and for those few sites that have been impacted by this matter, arrangements are in place to both keep students safe and to avoid disruption to face-to-face teaching with no remote or hybrid arrangements being required.
“We are continuing to work closely, as ever, with all our schools to support them and to ensure all our students continue to access the best possible education and teaching here in Buckinghamshire.
“Again, our school staff, students, parents and carers have shown great resilience this week and I thank them for their continuing hard work.”
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