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Doom: Schools falling down

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    Doom: Schools falling down

    If you don't have kids at school you should still be worried that aerated tulip has been used in other buildings.

    I'm sure a Scottish school collapsed around 2018 (Ahh yes different reason but still - https://www.newcivilengineer.com/lat...se-10-02-2017/ and oh - https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/new...pus-leak-roof/)

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66673971

    More than 100 schools in England are scrambling to make arrangements after being told to shut buildings with a type of concrete prone to collapse

    The government gave the order just days before the start of the autumn term.

    Some pupils have already been told they will be learning remotely, in temporary classrooms or at different schools.

    The government has not said when a list of affected schools will be published, drawing criticism from the Labour Party.

    Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson, who said Labour had not seen the full list, urged ministers to "come clean with parents and set out the full scale of the challenge that we're facing".

    On Thursday, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said affected schools would contact parents directly, adding: "If you don't hear, don't worry".

    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.

    But the DfE has not given a timeline for replacing the material, which was used until the mid-90s.

    Ms Keegan said the government was taking a "cautious approach", and that "over the summer a couple of cases have given us cause for concern".

    At Willowbank Mead Primary in Leicester, where arrangements have been made for children from different year groups to attend two different schools, while older pupils will have to use online learning, the head teacher said in a letter to parents: "I appreciate that the timing is far from ideal."

    It is one of many schools affected after the DfE announced on Thursday that any space or area in schools, colleges or nurseries, with confirmed RAAC should no longer be open without "mitigations" being put in place

    This came after the government was made aware of a number of incidents where RAAC failed without warning, not just in school buildings, but elsewhere too.

    Ms Keegan said her department's plan would "minimise the impact on pupil learning and provide schools with the right funding and support they need to put mitigations in place to deal with RAAC".

    But teachers' unions have criticised the DfE for making the call so close to pupils returning to school.

    "It is absolutely disgraceful, and a sign of gross government incompetence, that a few days before the start of term, 104 schools are finding out that some or all of their buildings are unsafe and cannot be used," National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said.



    "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

    #2
    Meh, a bit of falling concrete's nothing to worry about. A lot of the classrooms at my secondary school were ancient asbestos porta-cabins. Ice on the inside of the windows and holes in the walls where bored children had drilled through with compasses or other makeshift tools.

    Oh, and it was private so we were paying to develop asbestosis.
    England's greatest sailor since Nelson lost the armada.

    Comment


      #3
      As I said it isn't just schools -

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66461879

      As we've been reporting - it's not just schools which are affected by the problems with potentially dangerous concrete but other public buildings like hospitals.

      Two had already been prioritised for urgent rebuilding work - West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds and James Paget Hospital in Norfolk.

      In May, another five were added - Airedale in West Yorkshire, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire, Mid Cheshire Leighton in Cheshire and Frimley Park in Surrey.

      The NHS has asked the government to prioritise the rebuilding of these hospitals given the risks they pose to patients and staff - the full extent of which has come to light since the New Hospital Programme was first announced in 2020.
      "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Uncle Albert View Post
        Meh, a bit of falling concrete's nothing to worry about. A lot of the classrooms at my secondary school were ancient asbestos porta-cabins. Ice on the inside of the windows and holes in the walls where bored children had drilled through with compasses or other makeshift tools.

        Oh, and it was private so we were paying to develop asbestosis.
        it’s not the falling concrete the Government is worried about, it’s the law suits and bad PR when a kid dies

        Growing old is mandatory
        Growing up is optional

        Comment


          #5
          Oh apparently 37 Scottish schools are made with the tulip concrete.

          https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66461879

          In May the Scottish Liberal Democrats released figures that suggested 37 Scottish schools had RAAC aerated concrete.

          However this morning, Scottish Government housing minister Paul McLennan told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that only two schools had been affected by closures.

          The schools – one in East Lothian and another in West Lothian – have had to put some pupils in temporary classrooms.

          This does not account for the two primary schools in Edinburgh where pupils were moved to temporary classrooms in July due to the same issue.

          McLennan said local authorities were “undertaking assessments” on schools and that the Scottish government was working very closely with them – he said replies were expected next week.

          The Lib Dems have called on the Scottish Government to make a ministerial statement on the matter.
          "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

          Comment


            #6
            And Courts like this one - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66613718


            A crown court has been shut for the foreseeable future after potentially dangerous concrete was found.

            The Ministry of Justice says reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found at Harrow Crown Court in north-west London during improvement works.


            "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by SueEllen View Post
              Ms Keegan said the government was taking a "cautious approach", and that "over the summer a couple of cases have given us cause for concern".
              Yeah right, I bet they knew for a while but were busy holidaying somewhere nice and warm and not giving two tulips about this at all. Now suddenly they must've been told this is a serious risk and behold, over a 100 schools are "at risk". Ffs what a tulip show this country is.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by dsc View Post
                ...Ffs what a tulip show this country is.
                True.

                ---

                Former member of IPSE.


                ---
                Many a mickle makes a muckle.

                ---

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by dsc View Post

                  Yeah right, I bet they knew for a while but were busy holidaying somewhere nice and warm and not giving two tulips about this at all. Now suddenly they must've been told this is a serious risk and behold, over a 100 schools are "at risk". Ffs what a tulip show this country is.
                  You don't mean this current government has more useless lying politicians than past ones?


                  Oh and they are now checking schools in Northern Ireland.....
                  "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by dsc View Post

                    Yeah right, I bet they knew for a while but were busy holidaying somewhere nice and warm and not giving two tulips about this at all. Now suddenly they must've been told this is a serious risk and behold, over a 100 schools are "at risk". Ffs what a tulip show this country is.
                    or probably due to the recent beam collapse in one school they could no longer pretend everything was fine?

                    Growing old is mandatory
                    Growing up is optional

                    Comment

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