School closes after board falls on pupil

A NEW £28 million school campus has been forced to close on safety grounds after an interactive board fell on a pupil in class. The facility in Dumfries opened to pupils in August despite concerns a few weeks earlier, when it was claimed a ceiling had collapsed.

In the last two weeks, a pupil was also struck by a sliding door which came off its rails. Dumfries and Galloway Council said it had “lost confidence” in assurances given over the North West Community Campus.

The latest incident was revealed by the EIS teaching union, who said an interactive whiteboard had fallen on a pupil in a class. Contractors Graham said they had immediately investigated and concluded “excessive force” had been used on the sliding smart screen.

The school opened in time for the start of the new term, but was then closed for two days after the incident involving the sliding door.

The council said it was “appalled” by the latest incident, but declined to comment on reports that another child had been hurt. It is understood the boy was not seriously injured.

The school would not be reopened, the council said, until it was “absolutely confident” that “every bolt, screw and fitting” had been certified safe. A spokesman for the contractors told the BBC: “It’s clear from this examination that the screen was subject to a very high level of excessive force, which caused it to separate from the bracket.”