Cumbria Academy for Autism closes for three days due to ‘health and safety concerns.’

A school is closing for three days due to "health and safety concerns".

The decision to close Cumbria Academy for Autism was made following an external review of safeguarding and health and safety.

Cumbria County Council said the school, located in Branthwaite Road in Workington, will close from today, Wednesday 19 October, and will not reopen until after the half-term break on 31 October.

The academy opened in September 2019 for youngsters in Allerdale and Copeland aged four to 19 years old.

In a statement, the school said: “As a school, our absolute priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of every single one of our pupils and staff.

“Unfortunately, following an external safeguarding and health and safety review, the board of trustees have taken the very difficult decision to temporarily close our school for three days.

“This is a precautionary measure in order to ensure all health and safety related policies, procedures and training for staff are fully up to date and suitable for the school.

“We very much understand this may present parents and carers with various challenges and we can assure you that we have not taken this decision lightly.

“As a board, we are confident that a decisive and efficient review of all training, procedures, and health and safety policies will help to ensure we can deliver the most nurturing, safest and best possible environment for the children and staff.

“We would like to thank our school community for their understanding and support at this time and very much look forward to welcoming the children back into school as soon as feasible.”

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