Birmingham’s Hodge Hill Primary School in is one of dozens that have had to partially close because of the risk from crumbling concrete
The boxes of glue sticks, pencils, pens and notepads are lined up neatly in rows in the school hall, ready to be distributed to pupils at the start of the new term.
But they can now only be reached if staff wear hard hats and the whole of the hall with its freshly polished floor is off limits to children.
Hodge Hill Primary School in Birmingham is one of more than 100 across the country that have been ordered to fully or partially close because of the risk from crumbling concrete.
At this school, the “partial closure” renders vast areas of the school obsolete. Three of four photocopiers, all three halls, the kitchen, seven toilets, 15 classrooms, eight offices and a brand new library are out of order. A corridor, which on one side leads to affected classrooms, and on the other side to open classrooms, has been barricaded with desks to prevent the children from attempting to walk down it.