Schools

The collapsing schools that forced DfE action

'Serious structural issues' reported at five schools in one year triggered a recent government warning

'Serious structural issues' reported at five schools in one year triggered a recent government warning

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Ministers have upgraded the risk of school buildings collapsing after falling ceiling tiles hit staff, walls cracked and buildings required “urgent propping up”.

Schools Week has learned “serious structural issues” reported at five schools in one year triggered the government’s recent warning to upgrade the risk of collapses to “critical – very likely”.

Ministers are under mounting pressure to release more data on building risks, with long-promised publication now two months late.

A freedom of information request has uncovered the five incidents in the year to October 2021 that led to the elevated alert.

None had been flagged to senior officials the previous year, and six further incidents were reported last year – although these schools were not named.

Falling concrete and ‘urgent propping’

The five cases include St Anne’s (Stanley) School in Liverpool, which experts said could not reopen without “urgent propping up”. The DfE funded temporary repairs and a longer-term rebuild.

A Bradford teacher was reportedly admitted to hospital after they were hit by a falling ceiling tile at Fearnville Primary School, forcing temporary closure and repairs. Both schools were approached for comment.

Fortis Academy in Birmingham also temporarily closed after a concrete ceiling panel fell on a desk during holidays. A Shaw Education Trust spokesperson said all panels were replaced within weeks. It later secured funding for works.

Angel Road Junior School in Norwich similarly suffered “falling pieces of ceiling tiles” in a classroom. The Evolution Academy Trust permanently relocated pupils to its nearby infant school, saying it could not guarantee pupil and staff safety.

Issues ‘very challenging’

Council documents reveal three incidents of failing lath-and-plaster ceilings, plus subsidence, penetrating damp, extensive roof repairs and a canteen beyond its life expectancy.

Dr Craig Avieson, the trust chief executive, said issues had been “very challenging”, but reserves and local partnerships helped it “swiftly adjust” and reduce disruption. It has since secured capital funding.

Burnside Academy in Sunderland closed in March last year after routine maintenance sparked “structural movement”, with walls cracking and paving slabs rising up.

Buildings were due to reopen last March, but repairs have taken longer than expected with permission to keep using portable cabins on playing fields extended to this July. DfE documents say “difficult geology…caused issues”.

Planning documents say the school’s initial decision to bus children to other schools was “considered…harmful” to their education.

But temporary facilities posed issues too, including two break-ins in a week last year, briefly forcing closure as stolen cables left buildings without power. The school did not respond to a request for comment.

Ministers under fire

James Bowen, policy director at the school leaders’ union NAHT, said these cases were “the tip of the iceberg”.

Stephen Morgan, Labour’s shadow schools minister, said the examples showed “our crumbling school buildings are a ticking time bomb”.

Labour MPs recently lodged 110 questions with the DfE seeking constituency-level data on the condition of schools.

Olivia Blake
Olivia Blake

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake said cladding “flew off” Dore Primary School last month, leaving constituent parent Carla Ashman with “serious” injuries.

Ashman told Schools Week she suffered a black eye and now had trouble reading and had tinnitus, needing three weeks off work. But she said it “could have been a lot worse” and killed a child.

Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem education spokesperson, also highlighted funding cuts, citing Northfield Special School in Oxfordshire, which closed after the council deemed it “unfit for purpose”.

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said detailed surveys allowed risks to be identified. The government took “immediate action”, including closing dangerous buildings for remedial works.

Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, repeated a pledge to publish condition data, but gave no date after missing a December target.

A DfE spokesperson said condition data informed its school rebuilding programme to transform the 500 most in-need schools.

Blame game

Not everyone blames cutbacks, however. While criticising “woefully inadequate” government funding, Sheffield education committee co-chairs Mick Rooney and Dawn Dale said falling cladding at Dore “wasn’t caused by a lack of repairs” or its condition, but by “high winds”.

Head Lynnette Glossop said the school took “immediate remedial steps”, and hoped Ashman speaking up would improve repairs funding.

Oxfordshire County Council also previously put Northfield’s dilapidated condition down not to contractor Carillion’s “poor performance”, and has since overseen a £12 million rebuild.

Meanwhile DfE documents say Fearnville’s falling ceiling tile was eventually “found not to be structural”, triggered instead by urgent repairs to defective roofing.

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