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Original poster

How will we know if RAAC is a danger to our own kids?

54 replies

verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 00:56

If there was a critical risk to our children's lives if the Tories didn't repair 300-400 schools a year

And they didn't.

Then there are thousands of crumbling schools by now aren't there?

How will we know if our own children's school is or isn't one of them?

If it's a fee-paying school?

If it's a "Free School" or academy run by Tory donors is it safe?

Rishi Sunak said he'd diverted funding from deprived areas to prosperous ones didn't he? So are our kids safe if they go to school somewhere leafy?

Does anybody know?

OP posts:
StuffyHuffyPuffy · 05/09/2023 10:43

How will we know if our own children's school is or isn't one of them?

We asked the school. The school released a statement, they had had checks previously, and there's no RAAC present. We are in a county with plenty of named schools, so it's a relief.

Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 12:05

StuffyHuffyPuffy · 05/09/2023 10:43

How will we know if our own children's school is or isn't one of them?

We asked the school. The school released a statement, they had had checks previously, and there's no RAAC present. We are in a county with plenty of named schools, so it's a relief.

We are not on such a fortunate position.

I did wonder why so many of the schools named so far seemed concentrated in certain areas. Seemed odd.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 15:54

I'll be honest, I'm having a bit of anxiety about this.

I really need to know that my children are safe at school.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 16:00

Which doesn't seem like a big ask to be honest.

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Aria20 · 05/09/2023 16:19

Have they gone back to school yet? I have 3 kids at 3 diff schools - the 2 who have gone back we've had email letters from the head teachers to say they are not affected by this issue. The 3rd school hasn't sent anything out yet but it's a new building only 4 years old so won't be affected although im sure they will still send an email out to put parent's minds at rest.

TizerorFizz · 05/09/2023 22:16

@verdantverdure All schools will now know if they need work or not. There won’t be vast numbers of schools with this product as it wasn’t used everywhere. DH (a structural engineer) thinks some school architects liked it and when tenders to build were let, they happily used this product. Probably to keep build costs down.

As it’s mostly in schools built 30 or more years ago, they were contracts let by local authorities. They didn’t all use RAAC. For some very good reasons. It’s not great in a damp atmosphere as damp penetrates the concrete and corrodes the reinforcing. . Definitely a poor choice with badly maintained flat roofs too.

As many secondary schools are now academies, they are responsible for maintenance but money is short. The government funds their repairs.

If you haven’t been contacted, the school is open and safe.

rwalker · 05/09/2023 22:21

your School will of been inspected if issues were flagged up you’ll of been made aware

perhaps contact your school and ask
there more likely to have the answer rather than us randoms on here who only have wild speculation to go on

Spinningcats · 05/09/2023 22:23

Schools have all been inspected. Our school sent a message saying it was looked at as part of a safety review a few years ago and no RACC. So ask the school.

But, yes, the Tories are cunts

Dropthedonkey · 05/09/2023 22:27

Are they all being inspected by an expert? That isn't what I have been reading, I thought heads were being asked to find out themselves

Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:35

Dropthedonkey · 05/09/2023 22:27

Are they all being inspected by an expert? That isn't what I have been reading, I thought heads were being asked to find out themselves

This is what I have been told.

The "checks" were done by school staff not surveyors so are not a reliable indicator that your school does not have a RAAC problem.

In addition to this I don't know the new Head well enough to trust them to be transparent with parents yet. We're still at the stage where they send poor kids home for school uniform infractions then berate parents about absences.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:36

Spinningcats · 05/09/2023 22:23

Schools have all been inspected. Our school sent a message saying it was looked at as part of a safety review a few years ago and no RACC. So ask the school.

But, yes, the Tories are cunts

Have they though?

By who?

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:39

TizerorFizz · 05/09/2023 22:16

@verdantverdure All schools will now know if they need work or not. There won’t be vast numbers of schools with this product as it wasn’t used everywhere. DH (a structural engineer) thinks some school architects liked it and when tenders to build were let, they happily used this product. Probably to keep build costs down.

As it’s mostly in schools built 30 or more years ago, they were contracts let by local authorities. They didn’t all use RAAC. For some very good reasons. It’s not great in a damp atmosphere as damp penetrates the concrete and corrodes the reinforcing. . Definitely a poor choice with badly maintained flat roofs too.

As many secondary schools are now academies, they are responsible for maintenance but money is short. The government funds their repairs.

If you haven’t been contacted, the school is open and safe.

Thank you for this, it is a bit reassuring.

I wish I could find out that actual structural engineers carried out the checks.

I've been told it was a questionnaire sent to head teachers and no official inspections at all.

Gillian Keegan said that 1500 heads hasn't returned it yet. I don't know what that means.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:42

Aria20 · 05/09/2023 16:19

Have they gone back to school yet? I have 3 kids at 3 diff schools - the 2 who have gone back we've had email letters from the head teachers to say they are not affected by this issue. The 3rd school hasn't sent anything out yet but it's a new building only 4 years old so won't be affected although im sure they will still send an email out to put parent's minds at rest.

Ours go back on Thursday so I'm expecting an email tomorrow.

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TizerorFizz · 05/09/2023 22:43

No. Nor me. It’s not as if heads are qualified to make any structural judgements. What they can do is pay for a structural survey. There are engineers who are consultants to local councils, so they can be asked. Academies might have their own engineers but all need a proper survey if the age of the building is from 1950s onwards and obviously not brick!

Toddlerteaplease · 05/09/2023 22:47

I'm wondering about hospitals and other public buildings. The hospital I work in was designed in the 60's and is built on concrete stilts. If if has it we are in big trouble, as their is no space to decant to.

Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:52

TizerorFizz · 05/09/2023 22:43

No. Nor me. It’s not as if heads are qualified to make any structural judgements. What they can do is pay for a structural survey. There are engineers who are consultants to local councils, so they can be asked. Academies might have their own engineers but all need a proper survey if the age of the building is from 1950s onwards and obviously not brick!

I heard head teachers were told to tap walls with a hammer themselves rather than being given any funding for proper inspections.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 22:53

Toddlerteaplease · 05/09/2023 22:47

I'm wondering about hospitals and other public buildings. The hospital I work in was designed in the 60's and is built on concrete stilts. If if has it we are in big trouble, as their is no space to decant to.

Apparently they stopped using the upper floors of the one in Michael Gove's constituency in 2012! Flimsy Park Hospital in Surrey.

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SkiingIsHeaven · 05/09/2023 23:11

This issue has been known about for over 30 years. So all political parties have had a chance to deal with it.

Count how many schools have it and how many have collapsed. Think that the risk is being blown totally out of proportion.

The buildings are now older than their anticipated life span but it doesn't mean that they are all going to collapse together over night.

There are other risk factors to take into account to decide on which schools should immediately close and which are likely to last longer but we Brits and the press love a knee jerk reaction.

Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 23:22

SkiingIsHeaven · 05/09/2023 23:11

This issue has been known about for over 30 years. So all political parties have had a chance to deal with it.

Count how many schools have it and how many have collapsed. Think that the risk is being blown totally out of proportion.

The buildings are now older than their anticipated life span but it doesn't mean that they are all going to collapse together over night.

There are other risk factors to take into account to decide on which schools should immediately close and which are likely to last longer but we Brits and the press love a knee jerk reaction.

It's not exactly a knee jerk reaction if it's been known about for years but they're only now doing something about it. Grin

I listened to BBC Ros Atkins earlier and he pointed out that there was a Schools For the Future scheme to tackle this but Michael Gove cancelled it when the Tories came to power in 2010.

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 23:24

Here's the video saying that the government were told they needed to rebuild 300 -400 schools a year to avoid a critical risk to life. (Children's lives)

x.com/bbcr4today/status/1698595798445932834?s=46&t=1F3_GXoDvLPajCYTYkHKGg

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 23:27

And here is the Ros Atkins

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-66703849

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Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 23:29

Ros Atkins again.

x.com/bbcrosatkins/status/1698940507517567470?s=46&t=1F3_GXoDvLPajCYTYkHKGg

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sillyuniforms · 05/09/2023 23:33

Toddlerteaplease · 05/09/2023 22:47

I'm wondering about hospitals and other public buildings. The hospital I work in was designed in the 60's and is built on concrete stilts. If if has it we are in big trouble, as their is no space to decant to.

There will be loads. All buildings aged 1950-1990 need review. It's asbestos type issues all over again

Original poster
verdantverdure · 05/09/2023 23:40

I read on here today the the RAAC survey sent out to head teachers contained instructions to tap walls with a hammer to test for RAAC, but not too hard because there might be asbestos in the walls!

(Gillian Keegan Hot Mic thread)

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sillyuniforms · 05/09/2023 23:44

Asbestos isn't generally in walls it's just deep in building fabric nowadays. A lot has bern removed.

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