Raac: School told it was affected by crumbling concrete deemed safe

Students at Willowbrook Mead Primary Academy had started the term learning remotely

A school that was preparing to move into temporary accommodation "for months if not years" over crumbling concrete fears has been deemed safe.

Willowbrook Mead Primary Academy was one of three schools in Leicester told it was affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).

The school, in Roborough Green, said an independent inspection found no sign of the potentially unsafe concrete.

Pupils will return to classrooms within the next week.

The Department for Education (DfE) placed Willowbrook Mead on its Raac affected list - along with more than 100 other schools - days before the start of the new school year.

The institution, run by The Mead Educational Trust (TMET), said in a statement: "[We] brought in a specialist Raac engineer on Monday to determine what remedial action was needed.

"This inspection showed that there was no Raac concrete in the school. This confirms the findings of an earlier Raac survey that our trust carried out independently in June.

"Considering that the school was preparing for months if not years in temporary accommodation, it is a huge relief that we can move pupils back into their classrooms and return to normal routines."

Willowbrook Mead said the DfE had acknowledged its report now needed to be amended to record there was no Raac concrete at the school.

Structural failures

The DfE said it immediately responded to the results of the school's independent investigation on Monday.

A staement said: "The school informed us that a further survey was undertaken which indicated Raac was not present.

"We acted immediately and based on the evidence presented, the DfE surveyor concluded Raac was not present."

The DfE instructed that any affected schools should be vacated after recently changing its guidance to schools on the management of buildings that contain Raac.

The lightweight concrete used to build schools between the 1950s and mid-1990s has led to structural failures.

Willowbrook Mead's main office and key stage two block had been closed so safety measures could be taken.

Meanwhile, two other schools in the city placed on the Raac list, Mayflower Primary School and Parks Primary, were confirmed with Raac, according to DfE data.

The latter, in New Parks Crescent, was forced to relocate several classes and borrow rooms from other institutions following the discovery in May of Raac.

Mayflower Primary has had to spread its 500 pupils across four sites, including a mosque's community hall and manor house.