Scarborough school asked to close buildings after discovery of crumbling concrete

Scalby School has been asked to close the buildings affected, meaning it now won’t open for the 2023/24 school year until Monday, September 11.

The school is required to make suitable arrangements to continue the education of their 1000 pupils until safety work can be carried out.

Scalby School is the only school in North Yorkshire on the current Department for Education (DfE) list of 104 schools affected. The DfE list was published today.

In a letter sent to parents and guardians, headteacher Mr Robertson said: “On Thursday afternoon I was contacted by the DFE and was informed that due to the changes in their guidance parts of the school site did not now meet the new guidance produced by them yesterday.

"Currently we believe significant parts of the school site are affected by the change in guidance. This also includes access routes around the school building. This is going to have a significant impact on the education provision we can offer in the short term.

“This morning I informed staff that I would need to take the affected areas out of use while we put safety measures in place and plan for reopening. You will appreciate, of course, that the safety of students and staff is of paramount importance to all concerned.

“Unfortunately, this will cause some unavoidable disruption to students’ education. We are working to ensure that the impact on students is kept to an absolute minimum. However, I must inform you that school will not now reopen until Monday, September 11.

"This will allow us time to reorganise the school curriculum, work with contractors to start work to reopen parts of the building and ensure that the school is fully risk assessed.

"Following my initial conversations with the DFE and contractors I must inform you that reopening is likely to be a mix of face to face and online home learning.

"The details of what this looks like I am not able to share with you currently. My team need time to digest all the information presented to us and work through solutions to get as many students back on site as quickly as possible.

"As soon we have concrete proposals in place as to what this looks like I will write to you and inform you. This is likely to be on Tuesday next week.

“I appreciate that the timing of this decision, shortly before the start of the autumn term, is far from ideal. This decision has been taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure pupil safety, and we will be doing all we can ensure that the impact on students is kept to a minimum.”

“Our priority is the safety of our children and all staff working in schools.”

North Yorkshire Council is working closely with Coast and Vale Learning Trust who oversees Scalby School to ensure they can deliver education with minimal disruption.

They say they will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the Trust and the Department of Education.

Most schools will be unaffected, and children should attend school as normal. Any school affected by RAAC will contact parents directly.

Information for parents can be found here.