Sir Frederick Gibberd College closed again after power cables 'stolen'

Power cables worth tens of thousands of pounds have been stolen from temporary classroom buildings, a school has said.

Parents were told that Sir Frederick Gibberd College (SFG) in Harlow, Essex, could not open on Monday because of an "unforeseen power issue".

The school was closed on Tuesday and reopened on Wednesday.

Teaching has been repeatedly disrupted at the school since September over building safety concerns.

Parents were told about the sudden closure via email at 06:55 GMT on Monday.

Helena Mills, chief executive of the Burnt Mill Academy Trust which runs SFG, wrote to families saying a "well-planned, sophisticated theft" took place over the weekend.

"The site was broken into and tens of thousands of pounds worth of power cables were stolen. As such, there is no power on-site," she wrote.

The majority of pupils were being taught via online learning and the school also told parents via email it was "committed to minimising disruption to your child's education".

Mark Ingall, the former Labour leader of Harlow Council, who has two children at the school, told the BBC the closure was the "final straw" and said he was "exploring finding an alternative school".

Fellow parent Sara Cordwell, whose daughter is in Year 10, said: "It's becoming rather stressful."

The school closed its main building and sports hall in August over concerns that its "modular mode of construction" would not withstand extreme events such as high winds or a big snowfall.

Most students returned on 14 September, but the school was closed once again for a fortnight from 30 October because of improvement works to its temporary classrooms.

The site first opened to pupils in 2021.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We were made aware of an incident that took place at Sir Frederick Gibberd College over the weekend, as are Essex Police who are investigating.

"Contractors working for the department were on site at the soonest opportunity to assess the damage and continue repair works.

"We will continue to work with the trust and Sir Frederick Gibberd College to urgently rectify these issues and to minimise disruption to learning."

The BBC contacted Essex Police about the alleged theft.

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