A Newcastle primary school has closed suddenly after safety fears were sparked by the discovery of structural issues in parts of the building.
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School in West Denton has temporarily shut its doors to both pupils and staff from Monday, June 12 following advice from the Department of Education (DfE). It comes after a full site survey confirmed that Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was found in the school ceiling panels.
The school informed parents over the weekend that it would be closing this week for health and safety reasons and to allow for further investigation into the issue. It apologised for the short notice and said the structural problem was only brought to its attention late on Friday afternoon (June 9).
READ MORE: Join ChronicleLive's Whatsapp community for breaking news and top stories
The school told ChronicleLive that pupils will be learning remotely this week while staff makes alternative arrangements for classroom learning.
A spokesman for the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust said: “After a full site survey was conducted at St John Vianney, it was confirmed that RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) was found to be present in the school ceiling panels.
“The school building is closed whilst we review our options for long term remediation. However, in the short term, the pupils will have remote learning and in the coming week, we will be organising alternative arrangements for classroom learning.
“We are following government guidance regarding RAAC, which requires schools to have a number of inspections based on the age of construction.”
A Newcastle City Council spokesman added: "Our teams are working closely with the school, the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, and the Department for Education to ensure that pupils can return to face-to-face teaching as quickly but safely as possible.”
A letter to parents on the school's website said that the closure was a "precautionary measure" and that it would "reopen as soon as possible."
"We appreciate that a school closure at very short notice creates massive childcare issues for parents and loss of learning for our children," it read.
"We sincerely apologise for this, however, the safety of children and staff must be our priority."
READ NEXT:
