Schools closed as safety of walls put in doubt

THREE more Edinburgh schools will be closed today “as a precaution” after buildings inspectors identified safety problems with walls.

St Peters RC Primary will be closed until the end of the Easter holidays while repairs are carried out. Pupils are due to finish for the Easter break next Thursday, but the council is seeking to put alternative schooling arrangements in place so that they can continue to attend classes at another location next week.

Firrhill High and Braidburn Special School in the city will also be closed from today to allow fur ther detailed tests to be carried out over the weekend.

The closures follow issues identified at Oxgangs Primary School in Edinburgh, which has been closed since Wednesday following an investigation after part of a wall blew off during Storm Gertrude in January.

All four schools were built at the same time and by the same contractors, under a public/private partnership.

The surveys found that defects with the wall cavities and wall ties meant the walls were potentially structurally unsound in high winds and storms – but could remain open in normal weather.

The council said it was “not prepared to take risks affecting the health and safety of pupils and staff”.

It comes after a 12-year-old pupil at Liberton High School in Edinburgh, Keane Wallis-Bennett, .died when a changing room wall collapsed on her in 2014.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener, said: “The safety of our pupils and staff is our top priority and therefore the Council has decided to temporarily close these schools as a purely precautionary measure.”