Relocating pupils to village hall costing hundreds

When the village hall is pre-booked, about 60 pupils are taught in one room at the village hall in Woodton, near Loddon

The relocating of pupils to a village hall from a primary school that has a potentially unsafe ceiling could be costing more than £1,000 a month.

Some children from Woodton Primary in Norfolk have had lessons moved for the foreseeable future after the problem came to light in the last few weeks.

It is one of six schools the county council has identified as having an issue which needed repairs.

Jane Wickstead, chairwoman of Woodton Parish Council, said: "The buildings should have been properly maintained in the first place."

While some older pupils are at the hall for four days a week, when the hall is pre-booked, the school was able to accommodate them back in its own buildings for short periods of time, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The school said it had gone down from seven rooms to two, and was managing on its own site otherwise.

Ms Wickstead said the parish council's hall was being offered as a sign of "goodwill".

She said: "The school is being cautious and has relocated the class because of problems that have come to light over the last few weeks."

Head teacher Dawn Reed hoped the school would be "back to normal" before half term once the ceilings had been replaced.

“It has been a bit of a squeeze but the parents are very grateful that we’ve been able to maintain face-to-face learning," she said.

Norfolk County Council started inspecting 23 schools at the start of the school year.

It asked academies to inspect their school buildings and commissioned inspections at 37 more schools.

A council spokesperson said the local authority was "grateful" to the parish council which was charging the "usual hire rate", which the school said was £50 a day.