Council reassures parents over safety of school buildings after national alarm raised over structural concerns

Sunderland City Council has reassured families that all their Local Authority maintained schools are safe and will be reopening as planned next week for the start of the new school year.

National reports yesterday (Thursday August 31) said over 100 schools in England had been told to close all or some of their buildings due to having been constructed from a type of concrete which is prone to collapse.

Schools found with buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) have been told they must introduce safety measures, which could include propping up ceilings.

A "minority" will need to "either fully or partially relocate" to alternative accommodation while those measures are installed, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

A statement on the DfE website added: “While building maintenance is the duty of councils and academy trusts, new RAAC cases have reduced the Department for Education’s confidence that school and college buildings with confirmed RAAC should remain open without mitigations in place.

“As a result, following careful analysis of new cases, the department is taking the precautionary and proactive step to change its approach to RAAC in education settings, including schools. 

“This decision has been made with an abundance of caution and to prioritise safety of children, pupils, and staff ahead of the start of the new term.”

With children set to return to classrooms after the six week summer holiday, parents are no doubt concerned about the welfare of their children and the potential for disruption to their education.

However, after being contacted by the Echo, Sunderland City Council have confirmed they have carried out safety checks and that Local Authority maintained schools are safe to open as planned.

A Council spokesperson said: “Sunderland City Council has carried out a desktop-based exercise for Local Authority Maintained Schools, which did not show any RAAC for buildings we are directly responsible for. However, we will continue to monitor as part of our rolling condition surveys.

"The Council’s exercise did not cover Voluntary Aided Schools or Academies as these were covered in the Department for Education’s own survey. We have not been contacted by DfE about closing any schools.”

With a significant number of the city’s schools now governed  by academy trusts, we have also contacted them to check on the safety status of their schools.

Consilium Academies, who run Thornhill Academy, Washington Academy and Consilium Evolve, have confirmed their schools are safe to reopen.

A spokesperson said: “In line with Department for Education instruction, we conducted building surveys at each of our schools, and can confirm that none of them identified RAAC at any of the sites. 

“Therefore, we are confident that all Consilium schools are unaffected, and will be open as usual for the start of the academic year.”

However, Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust has confirmed some of its schools, including in Sunderland, are going to be affected.

Trust CEO Brendan Tapping said: “The Department for Education (DfE) has recently changed its guidance to education settings on the management of RAAC to take a more precautionary approach and as a result areas with RAAC will be vacated until safety mitigations are put in place. “Three of our Trust schools are affected, and we have notified parents. The schools are St. James Catholic Primary School, Hebburn, St. John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Sunderland and St. Bede and Byron Catholic School and Sixth Form, Peterlee. “The education and safety of our pupils remains paramount, and we are currently working with headteachers to finalise alternative arrangements and are looking to make provision for all pupils. “We are committed to continuing to educate pupils face-to-face or make virtual provision where this is not possible. We would like to thank our pupils, parents and staff for their understanding and patience.”

Other academy trusts have been contacted and we are awaiting their response.