Parents frustrated at delays to start of school year

Parents have been venting their frustration at being told at the last minute that their children could not return to school for the new term due to structural problems.

Letters are understood to have been sent on Tuesday saying some pupils would not be able to attend at Fakenham Junior School, Norfolk, on Wednesday due to concerns over classroom ceilings - with the same issue also affecting Reepham Primary.

One parent wrote on social media: "Absolute joke - less than 24 hours' notice to source childcare for the rest of the week."

Synergy Multi-Academy Trust, which runs the schools, said: "We have had to make the difficult decision to delay the start of the school year for some of our pupils."

After suddenly finding out about the postponement, another parent said on Facebook: "Ridiculous, they had all summer, and only now decided they needed stuff fixed."

Louise Lee, the trust's chief executive officer and accounting officer, said in a statement: "This is a precautionary measure after a building inspection discovered some concerns about the ceilings in two classrooms in each school.

“We are sorry to both parents and carers and children for the delay and inconvenience.

"However, keeping our children safe is our first priority and we need to carry out urgent work in these classrooms.

"We are adapting our other classrooms and using the Fakenham Infant School site to get children back to school as quickly as possible.

"[We] are hopeful all children can return on Monday, with some of our Fakenham pupils returning tomorrow [Thursday]."

She went on to thank parents and carers for their understanding and also praised staff's swift actions in adapting their classrooms.

Norfolk County Council has noted the disruption at Fakenham.

It said two year five classes at the school - which teaches pupils aged between seven and 11 - would reopen on Thursday, while two year three classes would resume on Monday, but based at Fakenham Infant School.

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