Vulnerable twins unable to sleep since school closed over concrete scandal
A mum of four says her twin girls with learning difficulties are struggling to sleep since they were told their new school wouldn't open due to the concrete scandal.
Andrea Scott, from Durham, said her daughters Jessica and Caitlyn, age 11, had started to come to terms with entering a new environment before they received an alarming email from their school's trust on Friday.
The twins have become "extremely anxious" since finding out that they would be learning remotely with St Leonard’s Catholic School. It comes after a survey discovered that autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) panels had been used during its construction. The crisis has hit more than 100 schools across England, with institutions being left to fully or partially close their buildings.
Andrea explained that the school had gone above and beyond to help the girls feel comfortable ahead of starting this week. But sadly, the ex-nurse said all of the school's hard-work and care has gone to waste.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: "Both girls were born at 29 weeks and unfortunately have behaviour and academic difficulties caused by problems that occurred because they were so premature. They both have high anxiety and have real difficulties functioning in new situations. St Leonard’s have been so supportive.
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Andrea said her daughters Jessica and Caitlyn struggle with change because of their learning difficulties (supplied)"They had special contact days where the girls could go in and meet with the send team without the rest of their new year group being there. They had a summer school and the deputy head met the girls and walked them into school to support them and even contacted myself to let me know they were ok. Now, I feel, all of this extra work has been in vain as my girls are now extremely anxious and worried. One of my girls hasn’t slept properly since Friday when we heard about this problem. It’s having a huge impact on all of us."
Andrea fears that the delayed opening will "significantly affect their emotional wellbeing" and said the "whole situation is appalling." She continued: "Both girls are currently on a very lengthy waiting list to enable them to get the support they both need desperately. They struggle with change. Covid severely impacted their confidence and development. They are no where near as ready for secondary school as their older brother and sister were.
"Now, due to the very late notice of the delayed start, both girls have had increased anxiety and poor sleep patterns. I am so worried about them. When I first heard about the closures and moving to online lessons, my initial thought was 'how on earth am I going to support my girls through this without any help?' Academically I can manage easily to help with their work, their special educational and emotional needs is where I will struggle. I am so angry now I’ve had a chance to look into things." She added: "We’re lucky that due to my ill health with arthritis, I am unable to work at the moment and can look after and support my girls through this. We got through the pandemic and we will get through this."
The Government is facing calls to publicly name the 104 schools or colleges that have been affected by the wide-spread issue. Andrea believes the situation could have been avoided, if they took action sooner. She said: "If the government had sorted all of this out when the problems were first discovered we wouldn’t be going through this now. I’m so angry with the government right now. [ they ] have a duty of care to all school age children. They have failed miserably at this."
Another mother at the school said she was left "absolutely devastated” to hear that her daughter wouldn't be returning to school and said it has left her trying to juggle childcare and work. Jill Simpson, 51, said the situation "wasn't fair on the children." She added: “I think the Government should have jumped on this as soon as they found out. As soon as Raac was found in the schools, there should have been things put in place. My daughter’s grades are slipping due to loss of school and teachers’ strikes and Covid, so we now have to get a private tutor for maths for her to start with to bump her grades back up.”
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