Urgent safety inspections ordered for almost 40 Norfolk schools

Urgent safety inspections have been ordered for almost 40 schools following concerns about damage to ceilings.

Norfolk County Council inspected some schools at the beginning of the academic year after Synergy Education Trust notified them of issues with lath and plaster ceilings at some of its schools.

The council initially inspected 23 schools it knew had the material present at the beginning of term.

Following the inspections, Avenue Junior School in Norwich was closed for three days and one class at Parkside School was closed for a day.

The council is now carrying out further visits to schools, which may have the material, based on the age of their buildings.

The council says the material alone is not a cause for concern, but ceilings may be at risk of collapsing if the lath and plaster is damaged.

Cllr Penny Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Norfolk County Council, said: "The safety of children and staff is always our first priority, so we are now checking any school where we think there could be this material, just to be on the safe side.

"We know that the material alone doesn’t pose a risk, but we want to check for signs of any damage, as we know these ceilings can collapse if there are showing signs of wear and tear.

“If we find any damage that requires urgent repairs then we will work with schools to minimise disruption and support their contingency planning.

“This is a similar approach to the one we used when RAAC issues were identified nationally.

"We’re sorry for any inconvenience it might cause to children, parents and schools but we believe it is the right approach to assure ourselves of children’s safety.”

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