The real reason ministers have not named 104 schools they may need to ‘close’

Ministers won’t be publishing a full list of potential school closures yet (Image: Sky News / LGA) The Government is not set to budge on revealing a full list of schools which may not reopen at the start of the new term due to concrete safety fears. Pressure is mounting from parents, pupils and the press , with Schools Minister Nick Gibb saying this morning that he ‘doesn’t know’ how many schools will have to close, but ‘totally understands’ the frustration of parents and students. ‘In most cases it will be just a few buildings or a few rooms, or indeed just a cupboard, but in some cases it will be the whole school. “And in those circumstances we will be finding alternative accommodation for the pupils and they’ll be out of face-to-face education for a very short period.’ Ministers are yet to publish a full list of affected schools, as they are waiting until all headteachers, school leadership teams, local MPs and responsible individuals have been told and parents have been informed, a source has claimed. Some schools could have dangerous concrete (Image: LGA) There are named caseworkers involved in informing each affected school, with headteachers being talked through what support is being made available. A source familiar with the operation said calls began yesterday and continue on Friday, with concerns that parents should find out about the issue from their child’s school, and not the media. This plan of action is viewed as more ‘professional’ than merely publishing a list and hoping parents find out. Around 104 schools and colleges are to be affected by the move, though a source denied a return to lockdown-style zoom teaching. They added: ‘Don’t expect a return to pandemic-style teaching’. Schools minister Nick Gibb defended the Government this morning (Image: Sky News) Previous exercises to deal with ‘critical’ reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) demonstrate the average length of time pupils face school closures is six days. The will vary widely, with a source saying the affected RAAC could range from a single cupboard, to a classroom, to a school block. If whole blocks are affected, the Express understands academy trusts may move entirely year groups to neighbouring schools to learn. Officials are concerned that if parents were to find out their child’s school is affected via the media, they would automatically assume their child was no longer able to go to school – which wouldn’t be the case were just a single classroom or block affected. The Department for Education is set to fund all repairs, with contractors already in place to erect portacabins, as well as electricians and wastewater engineers. Labour’s Steve Reed accused ministers of ‘neglect’ and ‘incompetence’ as parents are just about to learn of their child’s school closure days before the end of the Summer holiday. Follow our live updates here as more school names and information is released.