Scalby School Missing 17 Classrooms After RAAC Concrete Concerns

Scalby School will begin a phased reopening next week without all it's classrooms, support rooms and dining hall facilities and with some students using facilities at Scarborough UTC

The school announced last week that it was delaying the start of the new term after revised government guidance on RAAC concrete. The building material was widely used in school and other public building construction projects from the 1950's to 1990's and is present in parts of Scalby School.

In an update to parents, Headteacher Chris Robertson said:

"Thank you for your patience over the past few days. I wanted to update you on the work we have been doing so far and the plan for students moving back into education from Monday 11th September.

Over the past few days, I have been overwhelmed by the effort, creativity and resilience shown by the team of staff at Scalby School, and the Coast and Vale Trust staff who have been supporting us. Special mention also should be made to the number of contractors who have dropped other commitments and reorganised schedules to be on site to begin the work to allow us to get all 1000 students back in to face to face
education.

I spoke to the staff this morning about the situation we are facing and asked that as a team we need to support each other and our students when they return to school. I would also ask that you as parents extend that support and understanding to the staff, equally we will extend that support back to you and will do everything we can over the coming weeks to mitigate any anxieties and concerns you have. It has been lovely to receive a number of supportive messages from parents this week. One way you could support with this is by restricting comments that you post on social media sites relating to the school to a minimum.

I will communicate information to you regularly when I am able to do so. This will be information based on what we are dealing with on a daily basis and will be factual.

As I write this, we have lost 17 classrooms, several support rooms and dining hall facilities, although thankfully the kitchen area is still able to function. This has a huge impact on what can be delivered on site in the short term. Over the next few weeks, a number of the rooms will be returned to action once work has been completed on them. 

Yesterday we placed an order for temporary classrooms which will arrive over the next few weeks. It is difficult at the moment to provide timeframes for this, but as soon as I know these, I will communicate this with you.

Next week we will be in a position to get all students back into some form of face-to-face education.

However, for three year groups this will be a combination of face-to face learning on site and home learning. "

"The return of students next week will be staggered to allow us to implement new systems and procedures
effectively.

Tomorrow I will write to you with more detail about what arrangements will look like for each year group next week, including information relating to days and time students are expected to attend face to face education. I am unable to do that now as we are still in the process of working through timetabling, staffing and logistical issues.

I hope you will appreciate the extent of the work that is being undertaken to restore face to face education at Scalby. I must reiterate that the school have at all times acted within the guidance provided to us by the DFE relating to RAAC. As a result, the actions we are taking are a response to the difficult situation we have been faced with following the change in government guidance."

The letter to parents outlined a plan for next week for each of the year groups:

In a further update on Thursday the School outlined more detailed information for pupils in years 7 & 11. Some year 7 students will be using facilities at Scarborough UTC from later in the week.

What arrangements will look like for Year 11 students

We appreciate Year 11 students have a year of preparation for their final examinations, so we have made the decision to prioritise the time they will spend in face-to-face education. We are pleased to be able to offer a full curriculum offer to Year 11 students from Monday 11th September. There may need to be some adjustments in the way we run some of the more specialist courses such as Food, Drama and Music, but we are working through issues with Curriculum Leaders to ensure we can deliver all qualifications that students have started.

The team of staff at school and external contractors have moved mountains to ensure that school will open to students again on Monday. I could not be prouder of the work they have undertaken. However, I must stress that the school will look a very different place for students when they return. Many routines they are used to will be changed and my team will need some time working with students on Monday to ensure that we keep them in parts of the building that DFE and surveyors have deemed still accessible. This includes things such as student movement around the site, rooms students will access for lessons and dining facilities. Please be assured the safety of staff and students continues to be of primary importance as we manage this situation. We have undertaken a full risk assessment with North Yorkshire Council and are confident that the school is safe to function with students on site.

At no point will students be allowed near any areas affected by RAAC.

Monday Morning

On Monday 11th September I will welcome students back to site in the school sports hall. I will talk to them about the year ahead and some of the new routines they are going to experience. A lot of time over the next few weeks will be spent reassuring students and yourselves that my team will do everything we can to ensure they will leave Scalby with the educational experience and qualifications they deserve.

Students will be based in a specific section of the school unaffected by concrete issues. They will move between classrooms in this area, but staff members will come to the classroom, similar to during the pandemic. Students will still be able to access dining facilities which will move to our school gym and an adjoining marquee that we have had erected this week.

I appreciate there will be a lot of uncertainty around these proposals, but I hope you understand the complexities of the issues we are facing and the speed with which we are trying to react to get our students back into education

What will arrangements look like for Year 7 students

We are extremely grateful to our Coast and Vale colleagues at Scarborough UTC who are providing us with an area of their building where we can provide Year 7 students with a full-time face to face offer. Providing access to education on another site is a huge undertaking and I have had three senior school and trust colleagues co-ordinating this aspect of the re-opening plan. A team of Scalby staff will be located full-time at the UTC. This will include senior leaders, teaching staff, pastoral support and SEN specialists. Students will follow a Scalby school designed timetable
and will quickly understand what it means to be a Scalby pupil. I am keen to ensure that students feel connected to Scalby School. There will be a real emphasis on ensuring that these students are part of our school community even though they are starting their secondary school life in another building.

The UTC site will be ready to accept Scalby School students from Friday 15th September. This will allow us further time to set the site up at the UTC to meet our requirements. We have arranged transport to take students from Scalby School on a morning to the UTC and return them back to Scalby before the end of the school day. This will mean students can be registered here at Scalby when they arrive in the morning, also it will mean that students using school transport can use this as normal. Once we are able to bring students back onto the school site we will do. This will depend on contractor work and the DFE procurement of classrooms. As mentioned in my previous letter, it is difficult to provide timescales on this.

Online Learning

As Year 7 students will not be able to access the UTC until Friday 15th September, there will be an online offer in place for students on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. Students will be able to access a range of online learning activities via the school website from Monday 11th September. There will be a clear link to these resources on the homepage of the school website https://www.scalby.coastandvale.academy/ from Monday morning.

I appreciate there will be a lot of uncertainty around these proposals, but I hope you understand the complexities of the issues we are facing and the speed with which we are trying to react to get our students back into education.

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