Nailsea school closed by flooding to reopen by end of month

Ravenswood School was closed after the downpour on 9 September

A special school which shut after being flooded by heavy rain is set to reopen next week. 

Pupils at Ravenswood in Nailsea, Somerset, were sent home a day after the term started when the deluge poured into classrooms and damaged the electrics.

Another downpour days later causing further damage. 

The council said pupils, who have unique and complex needs, should be able to return on September 29. 

Councillor Catherine Gibbons, executive member for children's services at North Somerset Council, promised a review and said the authority would learn lessons from the incident, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

She told a full council meeting on Wednesday: "I can't thank the school enough for the way that they responded, the way they managed to get the children out and set up remote learning again for those who could do it. 

"These are children with anxieties, for whom change is difficult to deal with, and therefore having prepared your child to go back to school, having talked them through what's going to happen and then suddenly find that the school is closed and they're going to be doing other things was very challenging." 

The flooding was caused by damage to a temporary roof covering in place as part of work, which started in the summer and was due to end in October, to upgrade the main school structure. 

Headteacher Mark Senior described the damage as "catastrophic".

It affected the primary classrooms, post-16 buildings, sensory room, discovery room and creative arts department. 

Councillor Gibbons told the council meeting: "Parents have asked how the children will be supported to catch up lost learning. 

"The team has advised to focus for now on their wellbeing and make sure that when they go back to school they feel safe and comfortable, and look at the academic side of catching up once they feel that that's okay."