19 Edinburgh schools close.

[HirplesWithHaggis]

www.scotsman.com/news/education/safety-fears-to-shut-19-edinburgh-schools-1-4095097

My dc aren't in school (or, indeed, Edinburgh) any more, but this is dreadful. 19 schools, all built under PPPI, will not reopen on Monday due to safety fears.

I wonder if this means compensation is due from the builders to the council? Where are all these dc to go? With exams looming too!

[Scotlandorbust]

Thanks for posting this Hirples

[SauvignonPlonker]

Yes, it's shocking. Especially given that the school in Colinton (where this all started) has been closed for weeks now. Surely the schools could have been inspected before now, during the Easter break?

Apparently parents are being told to make alternative childcare arrangements for this week. Really feel for those with impending exams.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I really feel for the parents with kids at these schools - wtf are they meant to do? There's naff all childcare for school age children during term time except for the after school clubs and in most cases they'll be based in the schools too so even if they could get the staff they won't be able to open.

On the back of two weeks of holidays many people are going to struggle.

[whiteagle]

Thousands and thousands of families in Edinburgh are going to be hugely affected by this - to announce on the last day of the school holidays that all these schools will be closed indefinitely is a terrible scenario. They must have discovered a very serious defect in how all the schools were built or are being extremely risk adverse given the tragic death of the pupil at Liberton which was due to a wall collapsing. I'm not sure what we would do if it was us or how my pre exam DC would cope.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Edinburgh Council couldn't organise a piss up in a bloody brewery could they? Heck they're so far in cloud cuckoo land I doubt they even know where the brewery is - I sometimes wonder if they're ever in Edinburgh to see the chaos they inflict on us.

[SauvignonPlonker]

Ah, but we've got the trams though

[StatisticallyChallenged]

And more potholes in the roads than we know what to do with! There's a bit of track at Shandwick Place where the surrounding concrete is breaking up too so it's only a matter of time before that needs repaired.

[trixymalixy]

Poor kids that are just about to sit exams, this will be so disruptive! And how the hell are the parents going to find childcare?!

[Behooven]

This is an absolute scandal! I know it's in the news but defo not highlighted enough. I don't agree with PFI anyway for public buildings like schools and hospitals but this just shows how flawed the system is.

[lem73]

That's disgusting. We're supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world and we have been sending children to schools that may be unsafe? Unbelievable.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

It's ridiculous.

Our catchment school (and most of our local ones actually) are the old Victorian styles. The council hate them (and would no doubt demolish them if they weren't listed) because they're not all shiny shiny but you know what, they don't bloody fall down either.

They tried to close it a few years ago (I think about 2006ish) on the basis it was old, undersubscribed, bla bla bla - but they'd given it a stupidly small catchment. Just as well the parents fought against the closure since it's now full, as are the neighbouring schools in every direction. Areas where they succeeded in closing schools are struggling even more in many cases. Their lack of care, attention and foresight is appalling

[SauvignonPlonker]

And don't even start me on the decision to close Leith Waterworld & finance the Commonwealth pool refurbishment...

[Groovee]

This is affecting a lot of friends. My children's school is a PFI built school but under a later phase.

One of the high schools closed and Dd has a lot of friends there who are worried regarding the practical exams scheduled for next week.

A local organisation have said they could run a play Scheme for 30 children dependant on parents volunteering too. But where do you find short notice childcare in term time?

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Best hope for at least some emergency childcare is probably calling/emailing round childminders - they might not be able to help all day but normally they can take up to a max of 6 with a max of 3 being pre-school which means that they should have space at least until the time they do the school run which might help some parents.

If folk have any flexibility in working hours then after school clubs for other schools/offsite clubs might be able to do short notice space if kids are dropped off which could at least let parents get a few hours of work in, especially on Fridays. Could pair up after school club with a childminder possibly...

I suspect the playscheme option might not be entirely legal but I can understand why people would do it anyway!

It's a total nightmare.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I was pretty horrified to see this - I'll bet it goes further than Edinburgh though - I'm sure I saw somewhere that the same people built PPP schools all over...

It was always a shitty idea, and now its come home to roost. Hopefully this means they can negotiate some reduction in the ridiculous payments.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/03/30/miller-built-scottish-schools-closed-for-safety-checks/

[Behooven]

I wonder if schools outwith Edinburgh and Fife will be similarly inspected?

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I would hope so. I'm not entirely sure how PPP works though - is it possible Eburg paid less so got more corners cut?

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Knowing Edinburgh council we probably paid more and signed a contract agreeing that the corners could be cut and that we'd be fully responsible for any resulting injuries/damages!

[SauvignonPlonker]

Didn't Miller's go bust? (The company who were responsible for the construction?). If so, I wonder what if any chance there is of the buildings being repaired at their expense? Or will the taxpayer be left footing the bill?

[HirplesWithHaggis]

www.gallifordtry.co.uk/press-centre/news/2014/acquisition-of-miller-construction

Miller Construction was bought by Galliford Try in 2014, presumably yhey take on all of the liabilities.

I'd be worried if I was living in a Miller Home.

[Groovee]

The company who bought Miller were already fixing Oxgangs.

[TheScottishPlay]

That is horrendous.

[Pippidoeswhatshewants]

Blimey, what a nightmare for pupils and parents!

[Behooven]

I have googled but can't seem to find a list of all the schools built by them.
My ds school was recently built (East Ren) by a company called BAM