Repair talks ongoing one year after 'laptop sized' ceiling piece falls in North Tyneside school

Following a “laptop-sized” ceiling collapse at Fordley Primary School in Annitsford on December 20 last year, rapid inspections found similar faults in three other schools in North Tyneside. The inspections found the presence of a weak and brittle concrete mix, unrelated to RAAC, and a now outdated and no-longer used construction method.

According to a report from the structural engineering firm Narro, the building method responsible for the problem had not been in use since the 1960’s when the schools were constructed. 

The results sparked closures or partial closures of schools, disrupting as many as 1,700 pupils across Fordley Primary, Hazlewood Primary, Grasmere Academy, and Churchill Community College. North Tyneside Council, out of its own funds, has provided temporary classrooms for the affected buildings and now all children have returned to face-to-face learning.

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However, discussions with the Department for Education over funding for long term solutions for council maintained schools, not including Grasmere, go back to the previous Conservative administration. 

Jon Ritchie, Director of Resources at North Tyneside Council said: “Our conversations with the Department for Education regarding funding for these schools, and the modular classrooms we’ve put in place, are ongoing. We continue to lobby for both long term and short-term support for these schools and remain clear that structural issues of this scale and nature are beyond the remit of the council and the existing funding we receive.”

This comes as North Tyneside Council grapples with a £9.5m overspend, with the prospect of future cutbacks likely. The authority also announced in November it was set to cut 200 jobs in order to save £6.5m on its wage bill over the next two years.

Words: Austen Shakespeare