A WORCESTERSHIRE school has been caught up in a national scandal about concrete used in school buildings.

Pershore High School has been forced to close a building as it may have been built using Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

RAAC is a lightweight building material used from the 1950s up to the mid-1990s but fears have now been raised that it could collapse. 

Pershore High School, on Station Road, says it has closed a drama teaching space and costume store as a 'precaution.' 

The school is now awaiting a detailed, specialist, survey which it is hoping will take place in the next few weeks. 

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Phil Hanson, executive headteacher, said: "As a precaution we have taken these rooms out of use and will timetable drama lessons in a different location.

"The building in question is scheduled for removal as part of our rebuild and expansion project.

"This is a very exciting development for the school and the Department for Education is in the process of contractor engagement for what will be a £22 million improvement for the school.

"We anticipate that this work will start in the summer term of 2024."

The school is set to welcome back pupils from years 7, 8 and 12 on Tuesday, September 5.

Students in years 9, 10, 11 and 13 start on Wednesday, September 6.

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More than 100 schools in England were told to fully or partially close as a result of safety concerns about RAAC.

The Department for Education has so far refused to say which schools are affected.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan vowed to publish a list of the schools affected by the concrete crisis this week.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We will publish the list, but I do want to double-check that the school has had the opportunity – because not all the schools are back yet – to tell all parents.”

She said three companies providing portable buildings have already been contracted to set up temporary classrooms.

“Many schools are either looking for alternative accommodation, if they’re within a multi-academy trust or within a local authority, or moving to another classroom if they’ve got spare classrooms,” she told Sky News.

“If it’s across the whole school, then that gets more difficult. So what we’re doing right now is we’ve assigned a caseworker for each one of the schools, working with the school to figure out what the mitigation plans are.”