Safety review ordered after pupil hit by falling roof tile
● Incident came at same Edinburgh school where wall facade fell down
A major safety review has been ordered at all 17 Pfi-built primary schools in Edinburgh after a roof tile fell at a scandalhit institution where an outdoor wall facade previously gave way.
The investigation will start immediately to check the condition of all roof tiles and hangers after a pupil, who was attending a privately-run after-school club in Oxgangs Primary, was struck by the falling indoor tile.
A parent of an Oxgangs pupil said children were covered in falling debris after more tiles came tumbling down as they ran out of the school.
The lightweight tile, which was about 2ft square, fell from a suspended ceiling in a “general purpose” room.
A statement issued to parents by Oxgangs Primary head teacher Liz Walshe stated: “As the children and staff were preparing to leave the room a small number of similar ceiling tiles and part of the frame of the suspended ceiling fell.
“We take the health and safety of our pupils and staff extremely seriously and immediate action has been taken to identify what happened.
“Officers from the council and our PPP provider have identified that some of the hangers that suspend the ceiling were missing and this fault has now been rectified. Checks
0 Children were covered in falling debris as they ran out of the school have shown no other hangers are missing in the room and it is safe to use.
“As a precaution, all ceilings in the school are being checked and if any hangers are found to be missing they will be installed immediately.”
A council spokesman confirmed checks would be carried out on all Pfi-built schools in Edinburgh.
Safety fears first surfaced after a wall collapsed at the school in January, 2016. City bosses shut 17 schools for safety checks and set aside £500,000 to inspect other buildings. Those affected were all built or refurbished following a £360m private finance deal in 2002. Oxgangs Parent Council chair Richard Imlach said: “The parent council are rightly concerned about the latest incident and are keen to seek answers from CEC (City of Edinburgh Council) on the particular details of what the cause of yesterday’s issues were, and what steps and actions will be put in place to reassure parents that the school is 100 per cent safe.
“Given the previous issue with the wall collapse, there will be concern from parents again relating to the general construction standards of the school building.”
Oxgangs councillor Jason Rust said: “Parents are naturally extremely concerned about the situation and I am pressing to get an urgent understanding of the scale of the problem. Communication with parents is absolutely vital given the recent history of the school and we need answers.” An organisation has been given nearly £1 million to increase outdoor learning for nursery children. Announcing the £862,550 for Inspiring Scotland, childcare and early years minister Maree Todd said she hoped learning outdoors became “a defining feature of childhood in Scotland”.
Inspiring Scotland outlined plans to use cash to boost the time nursery children spend outdoors.
These include working with eight local authorities, which are yet to be identified, to deliver outdoor learning and create a “how-to” guide with advice on accessing outdoor spaces.
Further plans involve working with councils, voluntary organisation, charities and private firms to promote outdoor learning and helping review its impact.
Ms Todd made the commitment from the Scottish Government during a visit to Edinburgh Council’s Lauriston Castle Forest Kindergarten yesterday.
She said: “Outdoor learning not only improves mental wellbeing and health and fitness, it can make a huge difference to children’s confidence levels and their ability to risk assess while encouraging a lifelong love of the outdoors.”