ONE of the borough schools most affected by the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) crisis is St Clere's secondary in Stanford-le-Hope, where headteacher Jon Purkiss has just announced plans for a new, large temporary building.

The school, on Butts Lane, has a significant amount of RAAC across its complex of buildings, meaning students have been on a rota system and had to have home learning.

Mr Purkiss believe it is vital students return all students to full-time face-to-face learning as soon as possible and now the school, run by the Osborne Trust, has had its solution approved by the Department for Education (DfE) – which will also fund the temporary building to be sited upon the school field, which will create 30 teaching spaces.

Mr Purkiss has told parents: "We welcomed Baroness Barran (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for the School System and Student Finance) and representatives from the DfE to our school for the final sign off for the project.

"Losberger De Boer are constructing our temporary facility and work will begin immediately.

Buildings created for other schools by Losberger De Boer.

"This company is providing similar solutions at other RAAC affected schools across the country. The temporary classrooms will be positioned on the school field in the space between the Pavilion and 3G pitch.

"We await a final timeline for handover for this project, however, it remains our aspiration to have this solution available for use shortly after the half-term break in November.

"The conversion of the sports hall in the main building continues to progress as scheduled, and we expect this project to be completed during half term. This will provide four classrooms and a further three smaller areas that can be used for smaller teaching groups.

The images below show the progress being made in the sports hall.

"Presently, the corridors to this sports hall are affected by RAAC. However, work has started to install approved mitigations to open them, as a result will allow safe access to the new classrooms. The mitigations

"In the main building work will continue into the New Year to allow safe access to teaching spaces which are currently closed. The suggested completion date for all mitigations in the main building is Spring 2024. Due to the complexity of this work, I must stress this is an aspirational completion date.

"In the long term the roof of the main building will need to be replaced. This is a decision for the future however, we hope this will lead to St Clere's School being added to the new build programme.

"The support and patience from our school community during this period has been warmly welcomed by the staff at St Clere's, enabling us to focus on learning after having to close 40 teaching spaces on 31 August.

"We understand the impact remote learning has for our students and families, but this initial phase is thankfully coming to an end. The return to full-time face-to-face learning for all our students is in sight.

"I will write to you again before the half-term break with an update on progress and to outline the plans for our return to school on Monday, 6 November."