School forced to close due to 38 water leaks in roof

A primary school whose roof is currently being replaced has been forced to close on Friday due to a "huge number of water leaks in all areas of the school", the principal has said.

Eamonn Moore from St Oliver Plunkett Primary School, in Strathfoyle, County Londonderry, said rainwater had entered every classroom and shared area of the building on Thursday.

Moore said to safeguard pupils, they had to take the difficult decision to apply for an exceptional closure day.

The Education Authority (EA) said heavy rainfall had caused leaks in the "temporary coverings" in place while the roof is being replaced, adding the existing roof was also in "poor condition".

"EA maintenance staff and the roofing contractor attended promptly and completed immediate repairs to make the affected areas watertight.

"The school is expected to reopen on Monday," an EA spokesman said.

Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said repair work was under way at the school on Friday morning.

He said there had been long running "spot leak issues" with the school's roof.

"During yesterday's rain, all those spots leaked simultaneously- and a few new ones too," he said.

"Thanks to the heroic efforts of Mr Moore and his team, significant damage to the school interior has been avoided and all going well, the wains (sic) will be back in school next week," Durkan added.

Moore said the school had been experiencing roof issues and leaks for nearly five years, but on Thursday the amount of water getting into the building due to adverse weather was on a whole new level.

"We have made numerous overtures to the EA regarding leaks, and what was happening was they were coming out and fixing one part at a time.

"We then got structural engineers and architects to look at it, and they decided the roof needed replacing, so that was decided earlier this year. "

"Part of the roof has been replaced, part of the roof has just been covered and is waiting to be tiled, but with the rain today, we had numerous leaks coming in at different points," Moore said.

"Pretty much every classroom, the shared area, the assembly hall and the canteen were affected. The issue, I suppose, was that the water was also coming through the lights, so it was impacting the electricity. It just became a safeguarding issue at that point.

"It was every area of the school. We were looking at approximately 37 or 38 different leaks."

He said some of the leaks were minor but a "large number are pretty substantial, with water lying on the floors".

"We have had to leave tarpaulins down and different containers to try and catch the water. We are just hoping there isn't too much damage overnight."

Moore said the first leak appeared at about 14:00 on Thursday, and "more and more leaks started to appear" throughout the day.

"We left it as long as we possibly could, because we are aware of the impact that closing the school would have on pupils and parents, and it was the last thing we wanted to do.

"But it would have been a safeguarding issue, and it would have been riskier to open the school than to close it, because our priority has to be the safety of the children."

The EA said it is working "closely with the school and contractor to complete the remaining work to replace the roof by early November".

"We recognise the disruption caused to pupils, families and staff," the EA spokesman said.

The roof replacement, he added, provides "a significant long-term solution to previous issues".

Elizabeth Cooke's six-year-old son Harley is a pupil at the school.

She told BBC News NI it was "worrying and concerning" that pupils could not attend on Friday, adding there were also concerns about the safety of the roof.

"School is so important for children, today I am home schooling him. A lot of parents are having to get extra childcare today. We want the school back up and running," she said.

In a statement posted on social media on Thursday evening, Sinn Féin councillor Alex Duffy said: "It is absolutely unacceptable that a school has been forced to close due to extensive leaks throughout the building, leaving classrooms and shared areas unsafe.

"Our children deserve safe learning environments, and school staff should never be placed in this position," Duffy said.