Sandbach School building with RAAC set to open by term's end

Sandbach school in Cheshire has been using a marque for more than a year while the building is out of use

A school head said she expected a dining hall found to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) to reopen by the end of term.

Sandbach School in Cheshire discovered RAAC in the building more than 12 months ago during work to repair the roof.

It had been temporarily replaced with a marquee since the discovery.

Headteacher Sarah Burns said the school had received funding from the government after the RAAC was spotted.

"Without the funding we would not be able to go back into the building at all," she said.

"I feel very fortunate that it's one of my smaller buildings."

Work started in July to improve the building at Sandbach School. It is estimated to finish by the end of September.

Ms Burns added: "Hopefully before this winter we will be back in the building."

The government has published an official list of 147 schools in England it says have the crumbling concrete.

Ms Burns said the rest of the school site had passed checks for RAAC after a survey.

"We've been really lucky it hasn't affected us, we haven't had the panic this summer that some other schools have had," she said.

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