Bucks Council provides update on three schools containing unsafe RAAC material

Bucks Council has provided an update on the three schools in the authority’s area with buildings using RAAC concrete.

Three schools in Bucks were listed by the Government for containing the unsafe building material in some of their structures.

Waddesdon Church of England Secondary School, St Joseph's Primary School in Chalfont St Peter, and St Michael’s Catholic School were the aforementioned institutions.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete was used on buildings constructed between 1950s and mid-1990s.

It has now been assessed as liable to collapse without warning and any previous signs of visible deterioration.

Schools which still contain the material, that considered unsafe, have been required to temporarily close completely, or partially.

This afternoon (7 September), Bucks Council has provided an update on the three affected schools in its area.

As all three are academies the local authority has stated it is not responsible for maintaining and managing the sites. But has confirmed all three can return to face to face learning going forward.

In Waddesdon the school only has RAAC present in its restaurant area. So the school is reopening all teaching block and teaching all students face to face.

In Chalfont St Peter the school is undergoing remediation works and is open as normal.

In High Wycombe remediation works is also ongoing, and the school had previously informed the council about RAAC material being discovered on site.

The council states there is no disruption to teaching at the Bucks school, due to the previously agreed arrangements.

Councillor Anita Cranmer said: “This has been an incredibly challenging week for schools up and down the country that were already busy getting students back to the start of the new school year and I applaud all of our school staff for their hard work at this particular time, given that our schools have been inundated with questions and concerns about this matter.

"I am really pleased that the impact on Buckinghamshire students is extremely minimal; the vast majority of our students are returning to a new school year this week under their usual arrangements.”