RAAC school closures: Children’s commissioner warns of impact on vulnerable pupils
Fiona Simpson
Monday, September 4, 2023
The children’s commissioner for England has warned of the impact of school closures related to dangerous concrete on the most vulnerable children.
Children who attend special schools and looked-after children are among those included in the warning from Dame Rachel de Souza after the Department for Education advised 104 schools across the UK to fully or partially close because they are fitted with a concrete that could suddenly collapse.
Guidance was issued to schools fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) on Thursday (31 August) just days before pupils were due to return to classrooms for the autumn term.
RAAC is a lightweight building material used from the 1950s up to the mid-1990s, but is now assessed to be at risk of collapse.
It is believed to be fitted in 156 schools, however, 52 have taken protective steps to prevent collapse already this year.
De Souza said: “After years of disruption for children and young people, what they need most is stability and getting back to normal. We must learn lessons from the pandemic, and we need to see proper communication to children and families affected by this guidance.
“There also needs to be clear direction as to where children should go at the start of the new term and reassure them that places are safe and suitable. An assessment must be made of other settings where children are, and guidance provided as soon as possible.
“Everything must now be done to ensure the impact on children’s learning is minimised. And it is particularly important that everyone working with children prioritises those who are vulnerable and those with additional needs.”
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she added: “Particularly I’m concerned about the most vulnerable children, those in special schools and children who are looked after.
“We learnt from the Covid pandemic that the worst thing we did was keep children away from school, we need children to be in school.
“I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that there wasn’t a plan in place earlier.”
“I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that there wasn’t a plan in place”
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 3, 2023
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza criticises the response to problems with school buildings and says “we knew the stock was in this situation”#BBCLauraK https://t.co/wdM7fzdCok pic.twitter.com/CEQKi9omXy
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said that RAAC guidance had changed after new evidence emerged over the summer suggesting that buildings deemed “non-critical” were more dangerous than had been assumed.
“What happened over the summer is we had three cases – not in schools, some in schools, some not in schools – and I sent structural engineers out to see them, some were in commercial settings, and some in different jurisdictions.
“I knew it was going to be difficult because, you know, obviously, for parents, for teachers, this coming so late in August, but that’s when we got the evidence that a panel had failed in a roof that had previously been classified as non-critical.
“I wasn’t willing to take the risk. It was just one panel, but it was in a roof that had been assessed as non-critical,” she said.
A full list of schools affected has not yet been published by DfE.
Keegan added that most schools affected would be able to stay open if the concrete was only apparent in specifics areas of buildings.
Responding to the closures, Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders said: “The actions these schools will need to take will be hugely disruptive, and this will obviously be worrying for pupils, families and staff. The government should have put in place a programme to identify and remediate this risk at a much earlier stage.”
Really concerned about the issues with school buildings. Children’s safety must come first but I’m deeply worried for the most vulnerable children pushed back into online learning. We know the impact during Covid. We must see spending on children as an investment and not a cost
— Mark Russell 🇺🇦 (he/him) (@markrusselluk) September 5, 2023
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, described the situation as “absolutely disgraceful”, adding that it will “cause massive disruption to the education of thousands of children”.
