Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be relocated to other schools in the academy group, said Katherines Primary Academy in a statement.
The school is just one of the 104 educational settings that has been told by the Department for Education (DfE) to close any buildings containing RAAC, a ‘bubbly’ form of concrete which is less durable than normal concrete and has an expiration date.
A spokesperson for Katherines Primary Academy said. ‘Katherines Primary Academy has been closed due to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the structure of the building following guidance from the Department for Education (DfE).
‘We know the closure will mean disruption but we are committed to ensuring that the impact on the children is kept to an absolute minimum. All education will therefore continue in person, albeit with term starting at a slightly later date, Monday 11th September.
‘Nursery, Reception and Years 1 and 2 will be kept on site at Katherines, using the classrooms in the Annexe and the Lodge, parts of the building which do not contain RAAC and which are therefore safe to access.'
She said that
‘Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be relocated to other NET schools in Harlow. This is a temporary measure and the DfE and Essex County Council will be supporting us with longer term remediation measures so that we can bring all children back into classrooms together once they are fully confident it is safe to do so.
‘Children’s teachers will move with them so that they have a familiar adult at the school. The timings of the school day will remain the same.
‘We appreciate that the timing of this decision, shortly before the start of the school term, is far from ideal. The decision has been taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure pupil and staff safety, which is our highest priority and something we will not compromise on.’
It comes as the education secretary Gillian Keegan has promised to publish a list of all the schools impacted by RAAC closures this week.
Reports suggest many of the schools are based in the county of Essex. Others are in London and Leicestershire.
PM accused of 'slashing spending' on school repairs
Rishi Sunak was warned of a 'critical risk to life' from crumbling schools when he was chancellor, according to the former permanent secretary at the DfE, Jonathan Slater.
On Monday Slater revealed that officials were aware of the need to rebuild between 300 and 400 schools a year when Sunak was in the Treasury from 2019 to 2022.
During an interview with BBC's Today programme on Monday, Slater revealed that the DfE told the Treasury when Sunak was Chancellor that there was a need to rebuild 300 to 400 schools a year in England.
However, Sunak only gave funding to rebuild 100 schools, which was then halved further to 50 in a spending review in 2021.
