New schools safety alert as window falls 20ft onto playground

COUNCIL chiefs have ordered structural checks at almost a dozen schools after a window fell 20ft and smashed onto the playground of a nursery and primary.

Health and Safety Executive officials have been told of the incident and warnings have been issued to other schools with similar window fittings.

No one was hurt in the incident last week at St Maria Goretti Primary, in the East End of Glasgow.

But amid safety concerns for hundreds of pupils, Glasgow City Council officials have instructed tests to be carried out on 11 other school buildings in the local authority area.

In the meantime, teachers have been told not to open any windows with similar mechanisms. A letter was sent out to the parents of the 231 children who attend St Maria Goretti Primary and associated Lamlash Nursery.

It said: ‘You may have noticed that an area of the school and nursery playground has been cordoned off today – this was due to an unplanned building repair being carried out.

‘During this morning, one of the widows in a first-floor classroom developed a fault and fell out into the area of the school playground below. The classroom was empty at the time.

‘We have had council building and health and safety officials out at the school assessing the damage, and repairs will begin immediately.

‘Thankfully all our school and nursery pupils and staff were not hurt or involved in the incident and I will keep you updated with any developments.’

The Roman Catholic primary was constructed in 2006, as part of the city council’s pre-12 strategy to build a series of new schools and nurseries.

It is not a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract.

All of the remaining windows in the school have been checked by the specialist company which originally installed them in the building.

The Health and Safety Executive has been notified and the council’s own officers are issuing advice to other similar establishments, as a precaution, not to open the same type of window mechanism.

The advice will remain in place until an incident report is received from the window company.

A spokesman for the local authority said: ‘Thankfully, no one was injured or involved in the incident and the window contractor for the building has been at the school checking all windows and casings.

‘In the meantime, and as a precaution, advice has been issued not to open windows in the other establishments that have similar window mechanisms.’

Last week, the Mail told how a new school was closed on safety grounds after a pupil was injured by a falling interactive whiteboard. It was the third incident to hit the £28million North West Community Campus, in Dumfries, which only opened its door last month.

The school was temporarily closed in August after a pupil was struck by a sliding door that came off its rails. Local authority bosses said the school would remain closed until ‘every bolt, screw and fitting has been checked’.

The campus first experienced problems in July – before it opened – when an apparent leak was discovered. Social media posts claimed a ceiling had collapsed.

In 2014, Keane Wallis-Bennett, 12, died when a wall designed to separate showers in a PE block fell on her.

A fatal accident inquiry was held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in June last year to examine the full circumstances surrounding the incident at the city’s Liberton High School. Sheriff Principal Mhairi Stephen determined that the wall was ‘inherently unstable’.

‘The classroom was empty at the time’

THAT no one was hurt when a school window tumbled into a playground is down to providence, but parents should not have to trust to mere chance when it comes to their children’s safety.

The incident in a Glasgow school comes on the heels of problems with school fabric in Dumfries and Galloway.

Rightly, extensive safety checks have now been ordered. But how troubling that hugely expensive projects are bedevilled by such serious issues.

Taxpayers have a right to know that their money is being spent wisely and that public projects are value for money and fit for purpose. Even more important than that is that parents have confidence that their children are safe once through the school gates.

Schools are places to learn and develop – not partially complete and perilous building sites.