St William of York RC head on challenges caused by RAAC

St William of York RC Primary, which is on track to be one of Bolton's outstanding schools, was one of a number of schools in the borough to be affected by the material.

Concerns have arisen due to school buildings being made with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

It is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete but is also considered to be less durable.

The material was used in a number of buildings in the second half of the 20th century and it came to the attention of the authorities after an incident at a primary school in Gravesend, Kent, in 2018.

Pupils at St William of York RC Primary School are also without a hall and most of its playground until repair funding is granted.  

The school, which has been praised by Ofsted inspectors as worthy of being classed as “outstanding” if an inspection had been held this year, is currently safe for children but has had to deal with major disruption until full repair funding is granted.

Headteacher Clare Lightbown said: “We are continuing to navigate this difficult situation with our school building as best we can.

“Having no school hall certainly brings its challenges and has caused huge inconvenience to our school community.

Ms Qureshi has written to the Department for Education about the situation (Image: Public)

“All our pupils are now being taught on our school site, albeit in propped classrooms or temporary accommodation and we are awaiting the completion of an extension to our playgrounds.”

St William of York was first identified as containing potentially dangerous ‘RAAC’ concrete just before the start of the school year along with four other schools in Bolton.

They were amongst more than 200 all over the country.

Since then, scaffolding and support beams have been put in place across the school building on Nugent Road.

Scaffolding has been put in place around the school (Image: Public)

But a report submitted to the Department for Education still needs to be signed off by education secretary Gillian Keegan until a tendering process can start to get the necessary work underway.

Mrs Lightbown said: “We are looking forward to confirmation of funding, as promised, from the DFE so that work can begin on removing the RAAC from our roof.

“I am very grateful to our school community for their patience and understanding at this challenging time and for local leisure facilities for providing space for us to deliver PE.”

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi has now visited the site and has praised Mrs Lightbown and her team for their handling of the situation.

But she says she has written to the secretary of state calling on her to fully fund the repairs at St William of York as soon as possible.

Ms Qureshi said: “The work that Mrs Lightbown and the whole team have done to keep the school open has been monumental.

“To ensure they cover the whole curriculum every day is a huge feat and deserving of great praise in such difficult circumstances.

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“I have written to the Education Secretary to tell her the government now needs to match the dedication of the school with the funding they need and commit to allow the work to go ahead in full so that the school can get back to normal.”

The Department for Education has said previously that officials are working to tackle the RAAC crisis across the country.

A spokesperson said:  “We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to remove RAAC from the school and college estate.

"We are working closely with schools with RAAC to ensure remediation work is carried out and disruption to learning is minimised.”

“Our School Rebuilding Programme is continuing to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule.”