Raac: Scalby School students heading back to classrooms

Work to mitigate against the risk posed by Raac is continuing

A school affected by crumbling concrete has said students in years eight and nine should return to full-time classroom learning later this month.

Scalby School, in Scarborough, had to close parts of its site due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in September.

Pupils in years 10 and 11 have returned, with Year Seven pupils being taught at another school in the area.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it was continuing to offer support.

Scalby School has about 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 16 and is run by the Coast and Vale Learning Trust.

Deputy chief executive officer Michael McCluskie said years eight and nine had been receiving a mixture of on-site and remote learning since the start of term.

"We are hopeful that by the end of this half term or at the latest the beginning of next half term we will actually have all of those years eight and nine students back into face-to-face teaching."

Michael McCluskie, from the trust that runs Scalby School, said they had been supported by the DfE

Mr McCluskie said the trust had been examining the building for spaces they could use as additional classrooms and that included partitioning some areas.

"We are just waiting for the building regulations to give us the authority to do it," he said.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed and we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure we can get those young people back on the school site for face-to-face learning.

"It will depend on the health and safety inspection and it will depend on us being able to complete that building work."

The entire science block, PE facilities and dining hall at the school are shut

Used in construction from the 1950s to the mid-1990s, Raac can become "crumbly" over time and prone to collapse.

Government guidance changed just before the start of the term, requiring schools to close off rooms with Raac until safety measures were in place.

At Scalby it meant about two-thirds of the site were unusable.

A spokesperson for the DfE said: "The majority of pupils at Scalby are in face-to-face education already, and we are continuing to support the school to put mitigations in place so that everyone can return to the classroom as soon possible."

Mr McCluskie said the school had had "significant support" from the DfE from the beginning of the problem.

He said that included a dedicated caseworker and visits from senior ministers.

"I cannot fault the support that had come from the DfE at this point," he said.