BOSSES of Hockley Primary School have issued an update on the progress of installing a series of modular classrooms for the pupils following the discovery of dangerous crumbling concrete.
The Chevening Gardens school, run by the Academies Enterprise Trust, was expected to have the temporary buildings ready for the start of November following a delay in September, but this has also been unachievable due to “recent difficult weather”.
It comes after the school was ordered to shut in June by the Department for Education (DfE) after the discovery of reinforced autoclaved concrete, commonly known as Raac, was found in the ceiling - sparking safety concerns.
The school confirmed that Reception children and youngsters in Year Three will be using two classrooms on the site that are deemed “safe”, with Years One and Two going to Plumberow Primary Academy, in Hamilton Gardens, and Years Four, Five and Six learning at Westerings Primary Academy, in Sunny Road.
Now, the trust has announced everyone will be welcomed back to Hockley Primary School on Tuesday, December 5.
A spokesman for the Academies Enterprise Trust said: “Following the recent difficult weather conditions, the firm providing our new modular school on behalf of the DfE informed us that there would be a short delay to finalising the installation of our new classrooms.
“We wrote to parents to update them and to let them know that this means that Hockley’s welcome home day will now be on Tuesday, December 5.
“Whilst this delay is disappointing, it was clearly unavoidable.
“More positively, we were also able to share with parents that the DfE has agreed to fund new larger IT screens in every class so that our school has the latest technology.
“In addition to this, our new classrooms will now be furnished with new classroom tables and chairs.
“We are all looking forward to coming back together at Hockley and are now counting down the days.”
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