The government has finally published a list of schools identified with collapse-prone concrete after days of mounting pressure.
The document, released by the Department for Education, showed the start of term had to be delayed at 19 schools as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Four schools have also had to return to remote learning – echoing learning during the pandemic – while the rest have become a mix of remote learning and face-to-face.
The list came just before the first PMQs since the summer recess, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons the government had “acted decisively to ensure the safety of children and minimise disruption to education”.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of spending 13 years “cutting corners”, and compared ministers to “cowboy builders”.
The Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, also called for Mr Sunak to “come clean over his own role in this crisis”, and publish evidence given to him when he was chancellor on the risks to children’s safety from RAAC.
Myatt Garden Primary School, in Lewisham, southeast London Seven Mills Primary School, in Tower Hamlets, east London The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, in Ealing, west London St Ignatius College, in Enfield, north London Welbourne Primary School, in Haringey, north London St John Vianney RC Primary School, in Haringey, north London Hornsey School for Girls, in Haringey, north London Brandhall Primary School, in Oldbury, West Midlands St William of York Catholic Primary School, in Bolton, Greater Manchester St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, Over Hulton, in Bolton, Greater Manchester All Saints C of E Primary School, in Manchester Abbey Lane Primary School, in Sheffield Pippins School, in Slough Stanway Fiveways Primary School, in Colchester, Essex Baynards Primary School, in Colchester, Essex Great Leighs Primary School, in Chelmsford, Essex Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School, in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire Bentfield Primary School and Nursery, in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex White Court School, in Great Notley, Braintree, Essex Beehive Lane Community Primary School, in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex Eversley Primary School, in Pitsea, Essex Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham, in Fordham Heath, Essex St Lawrence Church of England Primary School, Rowhedge, in Colchester Essex Great Tey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, in Colchester, Essex Hatfield Peverel St Andrew’s Junior School, in Essex Broomfield Primary School, in Essex Mersea Island School, in Essex Cranbourne, in Basingstoke, Hampshire Markyate Village School and Nursery, in St Albans, Hertfordshire Widford School, in Ware, Hertfordshire Palmarsh Primary School, in Hythe, Kent Birchington Church of England Primary School, in Kent St James’ Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent St Bartholomew’s Catholic Primary School, Swanley, in Kent Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School, in Blackpool, Lancashire Our Lady’s Catholic High School, in Preston, Lancashire Mayflower Primary School, in Leicester Parks Primary School, in Leicester Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery Centre, in Telford, Shropshire Thurston Community College, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Shawfield Primary School, in Ash, Surrey St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton, Surrey Petroc, in Devon Park View School Springfield Primary School Outwoods Primary School Denbigh School Sale Grammar School The Appleton School King Ethelbert School Holcombe Grammar School The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School Wood Green Academy The Honywood Community Science School The Billericay School Aston Manor Academy Hadleigh High School The Palmer Catholic Academy The London Oratory School Tendring Technology College East Bergholt High School Hounsdown School Thurstable School Sports College and Sixth Form Centre Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Waddesdon Church of England School Wallingford School Woodkirk Academy Batley Girls High School St Clere’s School Sandbach School Carmel College Anglo European School St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon The Gilberd School The Thomas Lord Audley School St Helena School East Tilbury Primary School Clacton County High School White Hall Academy and Nursery Altrincham College Cleeve Park School Joyce Frankland Academy, Newport Danetree Primary School The Bromfords School Royal College Manchester (Seashell Trust) The Ramsey Academy, Halstead Redhill School Ark Boulton Academy Woodville Primary School Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy Thomas Bullock Church of England Primary and Nursery Academy Water Lane Primary Academy Katherine Semar Junior School Katherine Semar Infant School Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School Hatfield Heath Primary School St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School Godinton Primary School St Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot The FitzWimarc School Winter Gardens Academy Cherry Tree Academy Prince Albert Junior and Infant School Cockermouth School Northampton International Academy St Gregory’s Catholic Science College Bishop Douglass School Finchley Lubbins Park Primary Academy Scalby School Arthur Bugler Primary School St Leonard’s Catholic School, Durham Canon Slade School Claydon High School Harlowbury Primary School Kingsdown School Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery Sir Thomas Boughey Academy Harwich and Dovercourt High School Ferryhill School Wyburns Primary School Jerounds Primary Academy Roding Valley High School Lambourne Primary School Hillhouse CofE Primary School Barnes Farm Junior School St Elizabeth’s Catholic Voluntary Academy Hockley Primary School Chipping Ongar Primary School Langney Primary Academy St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School St Mary and St John Junior and Infant School St John Catholic Primary School St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green St Francis’ Catholic Primary School Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School Sunny Bank Primary School St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston St Bede’s Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Wells Park School St James’ Catholic Primary School, Hebburn St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland St Columba’s Catholic Primary School, Wallsend St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, West Denton The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy St Michael’s Catholic School Elmstead Primary School
Advertisement
Ministers expect hundreds more schools could be affected as they await the results of building surveys.
Rishi Sunak is also facing criticism for rejecting a funding request to fix 200 schools while chancellor.
The prime minister defended himself by saying he committed to a major programme to fix around 50 schools a year over a 10 year period – but the Department for Education confirmed on Tuesday that just four have been rebuilt since 2021.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Image: Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Image: Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Image: Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
A ‘vile’ former police officer who was caught in a sting operation after travelling to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed.
Thomas Kettleborough, 35, then an inspector with Avon and Somerset Police, was arrested in July 2023 while attempting to meet up with ‘the teenager’ after communicating with him on Grindr and Snapchat.
However, he was actually speaking to undercover officers.
After being detained at a car park in Bristol, officers found a bag in the boot of his car containing “an assortment of sex toys, condoms and bondage equipment, including a pair of limb restraints,” Exeter Crown Court heard.
More than 150 indecent images of children were also discovered on his phone and computer.
Kettleborough used the apps to have sexually explicit chats with the teenager, using the name Liam, while claiming to be 28, prosecutors said.
In February, he pleaded guilty to several child sex offences, including attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Last month he was sacked by Avon and Somerset Police and barred from policing for gross misconduct.
He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on Thursday.
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall, from Avon and Somerset Police, said the public would be “appalled by the vile and manipulative actions of this former officer”.
She added: “He was caught following a policing operation designed to keep children safe which has resulted in his wider offending being identified.”
Detective Inspector Dave Wells, who led the investigation, said Kettleborough’s crimes took place over four years,
The former officer held positions of trust in the police, the Sea Cadets and the Royal Lifesaving Society, but “concealed his true identity through an online persona as ‘Liam’, ‘L S’ and ‘Liamss5506’,” Mr Wells said.
Mr Wells added: “Specialist investigators are ready to listen and investigate any reports relating to Thomas Kettleborough or any other matters of concern. I want people to know that they will be believed.
“Thomas Kettleborough is now behind bars. I hope if there are others that have been affected by this case, they now feel empowered to tell someone, if they are ready to do so.”
Lee Bremridge, defending, said Kettleborough had shown genuine remorse for his crimes.
He added that the former officer had “done everything that he can attempt to do to try and understand why it is he committed the offences that he did.”
Kettleborough was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.