Thomas Bullock Primary only Norfolk school in RAAC scandal

Thomas Bullock Primary Academy in Shipdham confirmed last week that it had identified reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in the roof of its main hall. The building material can crumble and collapse after about 30 years.

The discovery forced the school to delay re-opening for the new school term by one day, over safety concerns, and its hall will be out of action for the foreseeable future, as structural work is carried out.

Now, a list published by the Department for Education has confirmed that the school near Dereham is the only one in Norfolk which has been forced to take action following new guidelines issued last week.

The list of confirmed locations includes 146 schools nationwide - many of which are in Essex - but has not listed any other sites in Norfolk.

Across the border in Suffolk, schools affected include Thurston Community College in Bury St Edmunds and Claydon High School in Ipswich.

It comes after Oliver Burwood, chief executive of the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust, which runs the school, said he had learned of the new guidelines through media coverage - not directly from the DfE.

Oliver Burwood, chief executive of DNEAT (Image: DNEAT)

He said: "Myself and my head of estates and the headteacher involved found this out by watching television and listening to the radio.

"We weren't directly communicated with about this change.

"There was a level of fortune there I'd say that we were on top of this issue because we're all engaged and interested in it.

"We all follow the guidance that we're told but could that guidance have been shifted earlier because it sounds like even though we've got everything in place now, there has been a period in schools when perhaps this has been present and hasn't been safe?"

He confirmed that assemblies would now be held in individual classroom groups, rather than as a full school congregation.