James Cartlidge MP inspecting RAAC at West Suffolk Hospital.
The Secretary of State for Education made a statement yesterday about the steps that the Department is taking to support education settings to respond to the risk of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, commonly known as RAAC.
Important points:
- The vast majority of schools will be unaffected and children should attend school as normal unless parents are contacted by their school.
- Each impacted school and college has a dedicated caseworker to help implement a mitigation plan. This could include other spaces on the school site or in nearby schools, or elsewhere in the local area, until structural supports or temporary buildings are installed.
- Because children’s safety is our absolute priority, it was right to make the difficult decision to change our guidance for education settings, so that areas previously deemed to contain non-critical RAAC are now being closed (until appropriate safety measures can be put in place).
To read the Secretary of State's statement in full, please see HERE.
Hadleigh & East Bergholt
Hadleigh High have 17 classrooms out of action. This is currently confined to one block, so students can still move around the school safely.
East Bergholt have 12 classrooms out of action.
Each school will have students on site from Thursday (7th September) in some capacity with remote learning for the remaining students.
I have been assured that all parents have received a return to school plan, with East Bergholt parents receiving a detailed letter on Saturday and Hadleigh parents on Sunday, once the survey results were clear. This includes delaying the start of term by one day.
Return plan for Hadleigh High
Thursday 7th September - Year 7 return
Friday 8th September - Year 7 and 11 only
From Monday 11th September - Year groups will return to school on rotation. More information is included in the letter below and the guide to reopening.
Return plan for East Bergholt High
Thursday 7th September - Year 7 and 11 return
Friday 8th September - Year 7, 8, 10 and 11 only
From Monday 11th September - Year groups will return and attend school on rotation. For more information, please see HERE.
I understand that parents who have heard nothing about their school building are unaffected, pending further building checks. The Government will also publish the list of affected schools, once mitigations are in place.
You can find more information about the new guidance on RAAC in Education Settings HERE.
