STUDENTS at St Clere's School in Stanford-le-Hope are among the most inconvenienced  by the impact of the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) at five borough schools.

Late last week the problem of the concrete, which could lead to a collapse of structures, became big news as schools across the county were told by the government they had to take precautionary measures.

As well as St Clere's East Tilbury, Corringham,. Thameside and Arthur Bugler primary schools have been affected in Thurrock – with the disruption at St Clere's the most severe.

On a letter to parents today (Monday, 4 September) the school's new head, Jon Purkiss told parents some students would have to stay away – and that the problems would run into October.

He says: "Due to the change of policy by the Department for Education (DfE) on Thursday 31 August, we lost immediate access to 40 teaching spaces.

"This is a significant amount of space, and we needed time to implement our initial plans. "Several spaces have been created in the areas currently available to use. We have repurposed any available space into additional teaching space. We also have work underway to further increase our teaching capacity, including converting the sports hall in the main building into four classrooms.

"We continue to work with the Trust and DfE to implement mitigations to potentially reopen areas currently closed. As mitigations are established, we hope to make even more teaching spaces available.

"Despite the mitigations outlined, we do not have enough physical teaching spaces to accommodate all the students at this time.

"We value all our students, but I trust that you can appreciate that in this initial phase we need to prioritise our transition and exam cohorts. However, we aim to support all cohorts in a fair and equitable way.

"We recognise that not all cohorts have previously experienced our expectations of remote learning and hence, we will ensure that every student has time on site this week with their teachers to establish learning routines, meet their teachers face to face and receive their timetables etc.

"We will use this week to complete this work.

"This week will operate as follows:

Wednesday 6 September As scheduled, year 7 and 12 attend school at 8.30am. Year 11 starts at 11am. Year 8, 9 and 10 will have a delayed start to school. This means they do not attend school and no remote leaning will be in place.

"Thursday, 7 September Year 7 and 11 will not be in school. Students will remain at home and no remote learning will be in place. This will allow staff to set up the remaining year groups for remote learning. Year 12 remain at home and complete remote learning. Year 8, 9 and 10 attend school at 8.30am. They receive timetables, expectations, etc.

Friday, 8 September Year 7, 10, 11, and 12 attend school - normal lessons. Year 8 and 9 at home and complete remote learning.

From Monday 11 September we will have four-year groups in school completing face-to-face learning, two-year groups will remain at home and complete remote learning.

"I can only reiterate that this is our initial plan and hopefully that as more mitigations are put in place, we will be able to bring more students back to face to face teaching. I have outlined how this affects each year group below.

"Please note that the week in brackets refers to the student's timetable:

"Week commencing 11 September (week 2) Year 7, 10, 11 and 12 in school Year 8 and 9 at home completing remote learning.

"Week commencing 18 September (week 1) Year 7, 8, 9 and 11 in school Year 10 and 12 at home completing remote learning.

"Week commencing 25 September (week 2) Year 7, 10, 11 and 12 in school Year 8 and 9 at home completing remote learning.

"Week commencing 2 October (week 1) Year 7, 8, 9 and 11 in school Year 10 and 12 at home completing remote learning.

"Week commencing 9 October (week 2) Year 7, 10, 11 and 12 in school Year 8 and 9 at home completing remote learning.

"Week commencing 16 October (week 1) Year 7, 8, 9 and 11 in school Year 10 and 12 at home completing remote learning.

"We will be using the new canteen to serve students in the school. We have the capacity to allow all the students that would typically eat school meals however, we would welcome your support by providing a packed lunch for your child. Students qualifying for free school meals will receive Eden Red vouchers for the weeks they are on remote learning."

Thameside Primary.

Thameside Primary has delayed the opening of its new school year.

Head Joanna Bray says: "Unfortunately, due to the short notice of the DfE guidance, we will be unlikely to make the changes necessary to open the school to pupils by Wednesday 6 September.

"We now anticipate school opening to pupils on Monday 11 September but will confirm details by Thursday, 7 September. We appreciate that this is not ideal, however, it is necessary to keep pupils and staff safe."

Corringham Primary will open as anticipated but there will be new places of learning within the school.

Head Karina Garrick says: "We do not anticipate any negative impact on the pupils' education and they will continue to learn in the following alternative locations:

"Year six will be split into two groups and will be taught in New Zealand classroom where RAAC is not present and the upper school hall / library.

"Year four will be taught in the lower school hall and use will also be made of Harbour and Lighthouse rooms."

Areas of East Tilbury Primary will be closed but again all children will be able to attend after some reorganisation.

Head Year Fiona Bates says: "Year one pupils will move in to the EYFS block to share with the reception classes. Year two pupils will be relocated to the sports hall.

"4CP will move to the spare classroom by the Year six pupils. 4JP will move to the spare classroom by the Year five pupils.

"Years 3, 5 and 6 remain unaffected by these changes."

Arthur Bugler is hoping to accommodate all students by rearranging spaces within the school.