Update issued on closure of fire-hit St Martins school
Fire-hit St Martins School will remain closed to secondary stage pupils until at least after October half-term.
The announcement follows the return of primary pupils to the classroom on Tuesday, after all necessary safety checks were completed.
However, headteacher Alison Pope confirmed that the site is not yet ready to welcome back secondary pupils, who will remain at home until at least October 17.
The school then has a two-week October break between October 20 and November 3.
Progress continues to be made after a devastating fire on Sunday, September 21, that caused significant damage to several facilities, including the arts centre, dining hall, and surrounding areas. The blaze left the school without electricity or toilet facilities, though temporary classrooms are now being set up in preparation for pupils' return.
Before secondary pupils can return, St Martins School said it must complete new risk assessments and fire procedures, implement revised timetables, and determine how to manage limited facilities. The school is also exploring the option of bringing single year groups back on site in stages to ensure safety and practicality.
But, parents have been informed that the all-through school will remain closed to older pupils for the time being.
"My top priority is pupil safety and to ensure that once pupils are brought back into school that they can remain here," said Mrs Pope.
"I do understand that parents and pupils are keen to get back to face to face teaching and myself and my team are working very hard on this.
"It is encouraging to see that components for the temporary classrooms are now being delivered to the site - these will need to be assembled and linked to utilities. I will issue an update on expected timescales for this on Friday but they are not a quick assembly as water, electricity, fire and wi-fi/internet systems all need to be connected and tested by contractors.
"I also need to write new risk assessments and whole school fire procedures as well as circulation patterns for pupils and staff. They are also occupying a large proportion of the playground so before we return, we will need to re-write the whole school timetable to create a split lunch for lower and upper school so we can manage the number of pupils at any one time.
"As we progress with this, I am looking at options of having single year groups back on site. To do this we need individual risk assessments linked to limited classroom spaces, taking into consideration limited toilet facilities, transport logistics and timetabling of staff. My team are working at speed on this."
