School closes classrooms as Raac is discovered

The Billericay School says the Raac was missed during a previous survey

A school has shut nine classrooms after concrete at risk of crumbling was found in several teaching blocks.

The Billericay School in Essex said the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) had remained undetected during a previous survey but was discovered during the half-term holiday.

Head teacher Patrick Berry added the concrete presented "no immediate safety concern", in a letter to parents.

It followed the school also suffering a cyber-attack during the holiday which saw the names, addresses and medical notes of children leaked to a hacker.

Raac was found to be present at the school during a Department for Education (DfE) survey last August.

Mr Berry said the latest building affected had been "missed in the initial survey".

However, the crumbling concrete was found during work undertaken by an electrical contractor.

• How Essex found itself at the heart of the school concrete crisis

The head teacher said work could begin "immediately" as an engineering company was already on site.

"I am hopeful that they will be able to complete their remediation work before the start of the new academic year is upon us," Mr Berry said.

"Students will find very little, if any, additional disruption to their timetable beyond some limited room changes for certain lessons."