Prestonpans: Delight at Preston Lodge as classrooms back open

All classrooms at Preston Lodge are now available for use for pupils following months of work.

The Prestonpans school was forced to close 23 of its classrooms last spring after the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the roof space.

READ MORE: Preston Lodge High School to fully reopen by February

The lightweight form of precast concrete, which was frequently used in public sector buildings in the UK from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, can be susceptible to crumbling and has been found in buildings nationwide.

Following the discovery, the school was forced to erect six temporary classrooms and S1s had to have some lessons in their old primary schools.

A phased return of pupils has so far taken place, with all S1 pupils returning to the school in November last year.

Now, work to repair the final classrooms – RME, French, computing, maths and business education – has been complete and all classrooms are now accessible to pupils and staff.

Use of temporary facilities, including portacabins, has also ended and these facilities are due to be removed soon.

IT and Science teacher Gareth Evans in his recently reopened classroom at Preston Lodge High School. Image: Gordon Bell

It is expected that the school’s PE facilities will be back up and running later this month, with the view to pupils using the facilities next month.

Pupils have been carrying out PE lessons at Meadowmill Sports Centre in the meantime.

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Very good progress has been made with the remedial works at Preston Lodge High School, with close partnership working between the council, Innovate East Lothian Ltd and FES FM Ltd.

“Through a phased re-commissioning process, all affected classrooms within the school building are now able to be used again.

“The temporary units have still been made use of while the phased re-commissioning has been taking place, but it is anticipated they will not be required after the end of January.

“It is still expected that PE facilities within the Preston Lodge building will come back into use in March, following the completion of works.

“All PE lessons continue to take place at Meadowmill until then.”

Headteacher Mr Clark welcomed the progress.

He said: “While it has been a very challenging time, we are really pleased to see the progress which has been made with the remedial work, as more parts of our building have become operational again.

“I would like to thank everyone in our school community for their patience and understanding, and for the great support we have received in this work.

“Maintaining student wellbeing, and keeping our focus on high-quality learning and teaching has always been our priority.

Work to repair the PE facilities at the school is expected to conclude this month. Image: Gordon Bell

“Our staff have played a key role in responding to the complexities of the situation and have delivered on those priorities, and our students have been amazing, coping brilliantly with all the disruption.

“This has always been a strong community, but I am convinced that we are emerging from this unusual time strengthened further as a school, because of the collaborative approaches that have become the norm, and the strengthened relationships that have been developed within and beyond the school.”

While repairs to the building are expected to be complete later this month, Councillor Lachlan Bruce, ward member for the Preston Seton Gosford area, said that he was concerned about the longevity of the building going forward.

At the January meeting of Prestonpans Community Council, Mr Bruce provided the group with an update on the building, stressing that he believed repairs would only give the school a 15-20 year lifespan.

He said: “I believe the PE facilities will be back up and running in March after they are repaired in February. This is obviously good progress.

“But I think there will be a need to look at what these repairs will mean for the school in the future. It looks like they will give the school a 15-20-year lifespan as opposed to 50.

“That will then open the door for questions on whether we need to rebuild the school or build another school. If that is the case, do the council consider something like the Wallyford Learning Campus that has just opened? These are all things that will have to be discussed.”