Flooding causes Aviemore Primary School to close yet again
Highland Council has said that there has been extensive damage caused by flooding to the kitchen ceiling at Aviemore Primary School.
Children were sent home again today (Thursday) at around 10am with parents being asked to collect pupils from the premises.
It is the second Thursday in succession that the classrooms have had to close, causing headaches for working parents.
A week ago one of the two biomass boilers broke down, with parents and children being informed on arrival at the gates.
A Highland Council spokesperson was unable to comment on whether the school would be open tomorrow.
She said: "Aviemore Primary School closure is due to flooding through the ceiling in the kitchen. The damage is quite extensive. No hot meals can be provided and there is a high concern that with the water ingress there is a strong possibility of fire risk due to potential damage to electrical wiring in the ceiling cavities.
"Facilities management personnel are on site assessing the damage/risk and will be able to advise the head teacher regarding the school opening or having to remain closed tomorrow. Parents will be informed as soon as possible.
"Parents should refer to the school closures website www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosures or the school closures information line - phone 0800 564 2272 to get the latest pre-recorded message from the head teacher. Have the PIN number 04 1460 for Aviemore Primary ready when you call."
Most parents learnt about the closure on Facebook, but many are unhappy about the lack of communication.
One working parent, who did not want to be named and is unable to access social media at her workplace, said: "This is the second time in two weeks that the communication between the school and parents has been far from satisfactory.
"The emergency contact system needs to be reviewed urgently with all parents in mind rather than relying on Facebook.
"It is one point of contact but it is not something that everyone has access to."
But another parent defended the school and said that whilst communication had been lacking last week, there had been a big improvement today.
The mother, who did not want to be named, said: "As well as Facebook, I certainly received a text informing me of the situation as did others I know, and I also know that some parents who had not picked up their children were contacted by the school by telephone."
The council spokeswoman said: "Last Friday (January 16) a letter was sent home to all parents of pupils at Aviemore Primary School explaining the school closure process and the variety of methods that parents can find out about closures including school closure website, school closure phone line, MFR and council twitter and Facebook sites.
“All parents were asked to provide the school with their latest contacts details and phone numbers."Any parent who does not have access to the internet or social media at work will be able to receive direct text messages from school as was the case today (Thursday).“The emergency contact system worked successfully today with many parents commenting to the school on how well things went.”
Pupils were also sent home early afternoon last Tuesday (January 13) as heavy snow arrived.
They then missed out on a whole day of classroom time on Wednesday because of the weather but had been due to return the next day until the boiler broke down.
Last month, the "Strathy" revealed that pupils at Aviemore Primary School were being taught in conditions as low as 11°C, when Highland Council’s own guidelines recommend temperatures should be in the range of 21-23°C.
Staff and pupils have been ¬wearing jackets in class, and there are even fears that teachers could refuse to work if the chill persists in the classrooms.
Electric heaters have been used to try to warm up the premises – but the council is being accused of not doing enough to keep the school warm.
Badenoch and Strathspey Highland councillor Bill Lobban (SNP) said that the constant doubts over the reliabi¬lity of the heating system was a major headache for working parents and staff in particular.
Commenting before today’s closure, he said: "It seems like parents, staff and councillors will never be done complaining about the new Aviemore Community School.
"There were the problems with the play area, with kids crossing the railway, with the badly designed heating and ventilation system, but to top it all, the biomass heating plant has never worked properly since the day it was installed.
"For the first year at least one of the twin boilers sat gathering rust and providing spare parts for its twin, and even then problem after problem occurred.
"This is the first real winter we have had since the school opened, and ¬unfortunately staff arrive each ¬morning not knowing whether the heating will be on or not, or whether it will last the day without breaking down. Parents send their kids off to school with the continual worry that it will be closed yet again.
"The time for excuses is past, and Highland Council need to get their act together to fix the problems which are ruining the reputation of this fabulous new school.
"I would, however, ask just one thing of parents. Please don’t take it out on the school staff – it’s not their fault. Pass your complaints to any of the four local councillors and we will pass them on."
