11th January, 2010.
Dear Parents,
A few words of explanation and an apology.
I have never ever had to close a school for a day before, never mind 5 days.
The trouble started last Monday when our KS1 pressurisation unit froze solid. The boiler mechanics turned out but could not fix it and when the PSI engineer turned out he took six and a half hours to sort the problem and we left the site at 7.30pm Monday with the boilers running on constant.
Tuesday brought the 9inches of snow and complete standstill.
Wednesday brought further boiler trouble and we thawed out yet again and lagged all the exposed pipes after the pressurisation engineers had again visited. Several staff were struggling to get out from their communities but we were aiming to be in on Thursday, hoping to clear the school area in order to open school on Friday .
Thursday arrived and the KS2 boiler froze up and the other wasn’t working. Then at 11am the KS1 boiler flooded as a result of a frozen outlet pipe. The engineers defrosted, patched up, purchased fan heaters to run overnight on the boilers and pressurisation units. No grit was available anywhere, and despite the sterling efforts of parent volunteers and staff, we were unable to make the school environment safe and so were unable to open on Friday as hoped.
Many staff battled their way into school again on Friday to find an unheated environment as the boilers had broken down yet again. They spent the day in freezing temperatures to prepare the school for Monday opening. The engineers spent a full day working on the boilers and we eventually left the premises with both boilers firing on constant to thoroughly warm the school over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mrs Eccles called in to school to check that things were still in order. However, the KS2 boiler was completely dead. Nothing was working. The boiler maintenance engineers were unavailable but a local plumber confirmed that the non-functioning part is a specialist part which will need to be obtained through the school’s heating engineers.
As things stand, Y3, KS1 & FSU will be able to function normally on Monday. The KS2 side of the building is unheated and Y4 & Y5 will not be able to attend. The two Y6 classes will relocate to the heated areas in KS1, despite the obvious difficulties that will entail.
Obviously the severe weather has caused difficulties for schools all over the country and at St. Mary’s; this has been exacerbated by the problems with the boilers. I assure you that we have done everything in our power to overcome the difficulties but would like to apologise for the inconvenience that I’m sure the situation has created for parents. Thank you for all your support, understanding and patience.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Heaton
Headteacher