Nine Edinburgh schools hit by safety alert will stay shut until August

More than half of the Edinburgh schools shut over safety fears will not be reopened by the end of the current academic term, the city council has confirmed.

About 7,600 primary and secondary school children in the Scottish capital were affected by the 17 closures enforced earlier this month.

The local authority had to draw up temporary arrangements to accommodate them in alternative classrooms across the city.

The City of Edinburgh Council confirmed on Friday that nine of the 17 schools will not reopen until Monday, 8 August, at the latest, in time for pupils returning from the summer holidays.

The decision means thousands of pupils will finish the current academic year in different school accommodation.

Of the eight other schools, three will reopen next month, and another five will be up and running before the end of June.

The decisions follow the latest update provided to the city council by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP), which manages and operates the schools on behalf of the local authority.

The council said 4,060 pupils will be back in their schools before the end of the summer term.

The first schools to fully welcome their pupils back will be Oxgangs Primary, St Peter's Primary and Braidburn School, which are expected to reopen by Tuesday, 24 May, following a public holiday on the Monday.

Firrhill High School is due to have all its pupils back by Monday, 6 June, while Royal High and Drummond Community High are expected to fully reopen by Monday, 20 June.

Broomhouse Primary and St Joseph's Primary are due to reopen by Monday, 27 June.

ESP has confirmed the work required on the remaining nine schools will see them all reopen by Monday, 8 August, at the latest, ahead of the pupils returning from holiday on Wednesday, 17 August, the council said.

The alternative arrangements will remain in place in the meantime.

Council leader Andrew Burns said they would bring forward the latest reopening dates if circumstances enabled them to do so.

He said: "Being able to reopen three schools next month and a further five in June is a positive step forward and means over 4,000 pupils should be back in their schools before the end of the summer term.

"The planned programme of remediation works from Edinburgh Schools Partnership gives everyone a clearer picture of when schools will reopen, and I am sure parents will welcome the news.

"I want to again thank all those affected by the closures for their patience during this period of uncertainty.

"The safety of our children is our number one priority and we all want our schools to reopen safely, as soon as possible.

"We will continue to work with ESP and their partners to ensure all work and quality checks are completed, so we can update parents as quickly as possible with information about their schools. If we are able to bring forward reopening dates, then we will do so.

"I would like to thank all school staff and colleagues across the council for their continued support, professionalism and commitment.

"This has been a challenging time, and the way everyone has pulled together, both in the closed and receiving schools, has been exceptional. Everyone is working together to minimise the impact on our children."

The schools were all built or refurbished under the same PPP scheme by ESP around 10 years ago, which revealed it was unable to provide safety assurances for the premises, sparking the closures.

PA