Cheddington school named as one of further 43 containing unsafe RAAC materials

A school in Cheddington is among the 43 new education institutions found to have buildings containing Raac concrete.

Cheddington Combined School has been identified as an education centre which has a building containing the crumbly material.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, is a lightweight form of the material, that was used in the construction of UK buildings between the 1950s and 1980s.

Just prior to schools reopening for the new term in August, over 100 schools in the UK were told not to restart in person teaching, until precautions were in place.

One of those schools was Waddesdon Combined School, some students had to temporarily complete remote learning at the start of the school year.

But the Bucks school was fully reopened by 8 September, as the Raac material was only found in its restaurant area.

With the Department for Education announcing another 43 schools that contain the unsafe material yesterday (19 October), it takes the total number to 217.

In 2022 DfE sent a survey to all schools in England to discover which ones were suspected of containing Raac.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, said that 99 per cent of schools have now responded to the questionnaire.

Keegan said: "I want to reassure all pupils, parents, and staff that this government is doing whatever it takes to support our schools and colleges in responding to RAAC and minimise disruption to education."

However, the Government has been criticised for failing to publish Raac updates every two weeks like it previously said it would.

NEU general secretary, Daniel Kebede, said: The reluctance to publish on time speaks volumes, demonstrating that there is a failure at the heart of government to take seriously the various crises facing education. It should not have to fall to the NEU to chase the DfE for information they pledged to regularly provide.”

No other Aylesbury Vale schools were among the new list compiled by the Government yesterday afternoon.

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Chalfont St Peter and St Michael’s Catholic School in High Wycombe, were both included in the original lists of schools suspected of having Raac materials in their buildings.