A school in Ascot has announced it will teach pupils in marquees after being alerted that dangerous aerated concrete may be present in its buildings.

It was revealed yesterday morning (September 1) that over a hundred schools and colleges in England had been told to close after they were identified as structures comprising reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), making them especially prone to collapse.

The government has disclosed a list of the 156 schools that were contacted by the Department of Education and St Francis Catholic Primary School in Coronation Road, Ascot is one of them. 

Headteacher Rhona Miccoli made parents aware on Friday, August 25, ahead of the announcement.

The school has quickly got to work in building temporary classrooms on the school field.

But when pupils return to school next Wednesday, September 6, they will be learning inside marquees, as approved by the Department of Education.

Mrs Miccoli said: "This has not been an easy task."The standard of these temporary classrooms are very high spec as determined by the Department of Education and I look forward to inviting you in when we are finally up and running. A date of 6th October has been pencilled in for handover of the 4 classrooms to our school.

"As you can appreciate there is a huge amount of work – surveys, groundwork and then connection of electricity, water, ICT access and drainage that must take place before the classrooms are delivered to site.

"If you are passing school, you will notice that this work has started this week and will continue over the coming 6 weeks.

"To avoid remote learning, as this was our only option, as no alternative site was available to host us (and believe me we tried!), the Department of Education has agreed to the use of marquees for the start of term.

"They have arrived today and will be furnished ready for the start of school on the 6th September."

"As we will not have a working kitchen until half term, we are unable to offer a hot school meal but grab bags will be available. After half term we will be able to return to our normal school meal provision.

"Whilst the use of marquees is not ideal, it does mean that face to face education can take place at the start of this academic year, with no interruption to our children’s learning, our wraparound care and enrichment clubs can take place and most importantly our whole school community is together on site."

Concerns have arisen due to school buildings being made with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

It is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete but is also considered to be less durable.

Additionally, its aerated nature makes it "susceptible to structural failure when exposed to moisture" BBC News reports.