Raac: Durham school pupils return to face-to-face teaching

Year 7 and 8 pupils from St Leonards will be taught at Ushaw College

Pupils at a County Durham school where potentially unsafe concrete was found are returning to face-to-face teaching.

St Leonards Catholic School was closed at the beginning of September when Raac was discovered, with youngsters spending some days at school and others learning online at home.

But from 30 October all pupils will return to the school site or Ushaw College five days a week.

The government is due to finalise rebuilding plans by the end of 2023.

Parents gathered at the school on 27 September when an education minister visited

Last month parents held a protest at the school gates to coincide with a visit from Education Minister Baroness Barran.

Affected by frequent timetable changes, the parents accused the government of delaying a decision on when a new school would be built.

Afterwards a Department for Education spokesperson said it was "concluding the feasibility work" and hoped to able to "begin the procurement, design and planning stage" before the end of the year.

Ushaw College is a former Catholic seminary

Katie Curtis, the mother of a Year 7 pupil, said although it was a "relief" her child was returning to five days a week teaching, she will be taught at Ushaw College four miles away.

"The Year 7 and 8 pupils who are at Ushaw are going to St Leonards for 08:50 and then being taken by bus to Ushaw and back which is still massively impacting their timetable, reducing it by one class per day in order to facilitate transport times," she said.

Ms Curtis added that while she "appreciated the efforts which have been made" it remained a stressful situation for youngsters being taught off site.

She hoped that by Christmas all pupils would be back at the school site with a "full timetable and proper routine with full on-site facilities".

Durham University has freed up space at the former catholic seminary for about 480 pupils.

It's vice-chancellor, Professor Karen O'Brien, said: "As a university we are always open to working with local schools and colleges to help pupils thrive and reach their full academic potential.

"It is lovely to see our facilities at Ushaw brought to life with their year seven and eight pupils."

A spokesman for the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust said: "We are delighted that we have been so well-supported by Durham University and Ushaw to get the children back to face-to-face learning."

St Leonard's has about 1,5000 pupils

All other year groups, Years 9 -13, will be taught at St Leonard's, in classrooms of up to 30 youngsters.

The school's sports hall has been divided into classrooms and the trust says temporary toilets have been moved on site.

It also said it was continuing to "identify specialist facilities" across the other four secondary schools it runs and with Durham University for science, technology, computer science, music and PE.