Thomas Keble School parents 'devastated' by delayed return to class

Anna said that parents and children are "gutted" they will not be able to return to school until after the Easter holidays

A group of parents have said they are "devastated" their children will not be able to go back to school on Monday because their classrooms are unsafe.

Thomas Keble School, in Eastcombe, near Stroud, is due to be redeveloped under the government's Schools Rebuilding Programme.

But parents say they were given little notice that the school will not re-open for another six weeks.

Parent Anna said their children have "already suffered enough".

"We'd all been looking so forward to going back to school," she added.

"We just feel that this is completely outrageous, our children have suffered enough having not been at school at all since December."

Surverys undertaken show that reinforcement work is needed to make the buildings safe

In a letter to parents the school said the decision to close was "not made lightly".

It said that a preparatory survey showed reinforcement works need to be carried out to ensure the oldest part of the school building can stand up to the heavy construction work that will take place in the next phase of the project.

It added that through doing the work now it was "less likely" the school will need to move into temporary accommodation in the future, resulting in less disruption overall.

Julia, whose son is doing GCSEs this year, said: "Many parents are delighted that we are going to get the new build, but simultaneously shocked that this current building is not safe for our students to return to on Monday like everyone else in the country."

Julia's son is doing GCSEs this year and while he will get some face-to-face teaching in the coming weeks, it will not be full-time

The Department for Education said the safety of school buildings is down to the individual school.

It added: "As Thomas Keble has been selected to be part of the School Rebuilding Programme announced in February, DfE has been working closely with the school and advising it on site matters ahead of construction.

"The department is clear Thomas Keble has done everything required of it to keep its pupils and staff safe."