North Tyneside - Update on school closures
Four schools are partially closed in the Borough.
Following a report from structural engineers, North Tyneside Council is able to share more information on the partial closure of four schools in the Borough.
In December 2023 a small part of concrete block fell from the ceiling in Fordley Primary School. This prompted a proactive investigation into the cause and to review the safety at all schools in the Borough.
School buildings in North Tyneside follow Health and Safety law and have regular inspections and maintenance programmes. The issue that led to the incident at Fordley would not have been flagged during these checks.
In February, three further schools were identified as needing further investigation as a result of an assessment of the Council’s school buildings: Churchill Community College, Hazlewood Primary School and Grasmere Academy.
Narro, structural engineers commissioned by North Tyneside Council in December 2023, have now completed their initial report for Fordley Primary School. The engineers carried out tests including drilling into the floor to take core samples, removing, and testing blocks.
The report has confirmed the problem is a historical, isolated issue connected to the mixture of the concrete used in some of the blocks when the school was constructed.
Where parts of schools remain open, they are safe and not affected by the concrete mix.
The concrete mix used was weak and brittle, and therefore susceptible to cracking. This mix was formed into hollow blocks – a common building method in the 1960s when the school was built – and then used as part of a technique which is sometimes referred to as ‘Hollow Concrete Block and Plank’.
The method is no longer used for construction in the UK and there is currently no evidence from industry bodies of failure of this type of construction.
Once one block cracks, it forms a weakness, potentially causing other blocks in the same row to crack slowly over time. This does not create issues with stability for the whole building, just small, isolated areas and individual blocks.
The Council is awaiting further tests from Churchill, Hazlewood and Grasmere before their reports are finalised. Investigations have identified similar types of first floor construction with visual signs of weaknesses in the hollow concrete blocks that are being investigating further.
Working together with the individual schools, the Department for Education and structural engineers, the Council will start to explore remedial works that will allow schools to fully reopen when it is safe and appropriate to do so.
All students are now back to face-to-face learning.
Bespoke heated and lit modular classrooms have been ordered for Fordley Primary School and the first ones will arrive after Easter. The Council continues to explore solutions for Churchill and Hazlewood, and are supporting Grasmere Academy, a school which they do not currently maintain.
Julie Firth, Director of Children’s Services, North Tyneside Council, said:
“I’d like to thank the communities at the affected schools for their patience; we know this has been disruptive and difficult. We are so proud of how the pupils are adapting and carrying on with their education, and that’s testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff.
“A lot of the short-term solutions would not have been possible without the coming together of the wider school and education community across North Tyneside, who have undertaken some serious reshuffling to temporarily host pupils and their teachers from other schools.
“We are working with the school leaders and Department for Education on longer term solutions”.