AN OLDHAM school has been hit by flooding for the ninth year in a row.

Newman RC College in Broadway, was affected by multiple leaks on Monday, forcing large parts of the building to close.

The latest flooding means repairs to a quarter of the school’s glazed roof over the summer break have failed to keep the persistent leaks at bay, raising the prospect of another academic year being marred by disruption to students’ learning in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The school’s headteacher Glyn Potts, who previously called for the entire roof to be re-done and likened the repairs to “putting blue tac on a colander”, has called the near decade-long disruption at the school “absolutely ridiculous”.

The headteacher posted a series of videos of the latest leaks on Twitter.

 

Alongside a video of a leak at the top of the science corridor, he wrote: “Leak has returned and will likely come through the ceiling again”.

At 7.30 am he Tweeted a video of three buckets placed in a common area, alongside a message that read: “In the short time that I’ve walked the first floor, an hour and half before students arrive, a bucket is two inches full”.

He later wrote: “Absolutely ridiculous that students have to face this level of disruption for nine years.”

The building’s owners estimate that there are more than 90 leak points within the school’s flat roof, according to the head teacher.

Mr Potts has previously said leaks from the roof can take out “anything from six to 12 classrooms at a time.”

He added that the leaks caused by the school’s pipework issues have now been “partially resolved”, and that the flat roof is now the “bigger issue.”

The school has battled consistent leaks ever since the building was completed in September, 2011 under a partnership between Oldham Council and a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) contractor owned by Balfour Beatty, as part of the national “Building Schools for the Future” programme.

As a local authority school Newman RC college is reliant on the council to put pressure on the building’s owners when incidents, such as leaks, occur.

After the school was hit by leaks back in May, the Oldham council said officers were continuing to “put pressure on the contractors, as it’s their responsibility, to rectify the issues at hand as quickly as possible.”

Oldham Council and Balfour Beatty were contacted for an update but did not respond before the paper went to print.