Two more Suffolk schools added to list of buildings at risk from crumbling concrete

Stowupland High and Newmarket Academy have both confirmed some of their buildings contain RAAC

Stowupland High is one of two schools in Suffolk added to the list of those affected by RAAC
Author: Ellie Ng, PAPublished 19th Oct 2023

Two more schools in Suffolk have been added to a list of education settings in England where collapse-risk concrete has been found.

Another 43 schools and colleges have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) on site.

Newmarket Academy and Stowupland High are the latest to appear on the list.

Overall, 214 education settings in England have been confirmed with Raac as of October 16.

Elsewhere in Suffolk this includes Claydon High, East Bergholt High, Hadleigh High, Thurston Community College and Farlingaye High in Woodbridge.

None of the schools have had to close and all young people attending are receiving face-to-face lessons.

Education unions criticised the delay in publishing the figures and expressed concerns about the lack of a clear timeline for when work will be completed.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said many schools are "still waiting" for temporary classrooms and buildings to be put in place and that plans for rebuilding are "even more nebulous".

Essex is the worst hit local authority with 63 schools confirmed with Raac, according to the National Education Union (NEU).

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: "Thanks to the hard work of school and college leaders, 202 settings (94%) are providing full time face-to-face education for all pupils.

"Twelve settings have hybrid arrangements in place.

"This may involve some remote learning on some days as not all pupils can currently receive full-time face-to-face education.

"There are no education settings with confirmed Raac where all pupils are in full-time remote learning."

Last year, the DfE issued a questionnaire to responsible bodies for all schools in England to ask them to identify whether they suspected they had Raac.

Responsible bodies have submitted responses to the questionnaire for 99.9% of schools and colleges with blocks built in the target era, Ms Keegan said.

She added that the DfE is in contact with those responsible bodies and education settings to resolve 17 remaining responses to the questionnaire.

"I want to reassure pupils, parents and staff that this Government is doing whatever it takes to support our schools and colleges in responding to Raac and minimise disruption to education," Ms Keegan said.

Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary, accused the Government of failing to take the crisis seriously.

He said: "Their reluctance to publish on time speaks volumes, demonstrating that there is a failure at the heart of Government to take seriously the various crises facing education.

"It should not have to fall to the NEU to chase the DfE for information they pledged to regularly provide."

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said the rise in the number of affected schools "comes as no surprise".

"While ministers have made promises over funding and support for schools, there is no clear timeline for when will work will be completed and there appears to be no end in sight to this crisis," he said.

"The government must set out clearly when it will provide the longer-term funding our school buildings desperately needed."

Mr Whiteman added: "Schools are having to repurpose specialist facilities, dining halls, PE rooms, and spaces for after-school provision and wraparound care, which is having a huge impact on communities, provision and on schools' income."

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