Netherthird Primary will re-open after repair work

Several people have contacted the Chronicle to say that the pupils will end up going to the new superschool.

Head of facilities at East Ayrshire Council, Andrew Kennedy, revealed what the future holds for the school in an exclusive interview with the Chronicle.

He said: “As Netherthird is not part of the proposed Knockroon superschool campus and there is not a feasible option to include it in the new set-up.

“At a meeting with the parents, myself and Alan Ward, head of education, it was made clear that this was not an option.

“We would have to change the plans and go through the whole planning procedure again, so the two issues are being dealt with separately.”

Claims that the education department have known about the problem for some time were inaccurate, he added.

“Over the summer we undertook a number of visual inspections and, following these, we carried out further detailed surveys.

“It was only after these surveys that an issue was identified that parts of the ceiling could crumble and come down, so it wasn’t advisable to allow the pupils in.

“The additional survey was not completed until the Wednesday before we informed parents.

“Because of the nature of the building, it was built in the 50s, and did not have expansion joints, you are liable to see cracking.

“This affected concrete blocks as well, all caused by the age of the building, and it was not right to put the children into the school.

“There is a programme of investment in place for the building, to look at fabric issues, but it is likely that we will have to do a bit more.

“At the moment we are working with structural engineers and looking at what our options are.

“We can either protect the ceilings so that nothing falls down or remove the blocks and replace them with something else.

“We will have to decide how much investment we put in and how long the building will be sustainable.

“There are things we can do, on a short-term scale, that would allow us to put the children back in.”

Meanwhile, P1 to P5 have been decanted until further notice to Greenmill PS with the older classes using Cumnock Academy.

Mr Kennedy said: “Arrangements to ferry the pupils to their temporary schools are working well with parents and staff being supportive of the arrangements.

“Everyone has worked hard to make sure that the kids feel as if they are in their normal environment.

“We did put on additional transport, for primary one children, so that their parents could go and see them in Greenmill as well.

“There was a huge amount of work involved to get everything running smoothly, but a lot of the kids are loving it.”

A council spokesman added: “Feedback on social media has also been overwhelmingly positive after the council had a full decant programme in place within 48 hours of the problem being discovered.”

Numerous people have also come together in the community to help out.

“Another positive that has come out of the situation has come about because we have been unable to make arrangements for the breakfast club.

“So the community have actually stepped up to deal with that and we are working in partnership with them.

“The council will still provide the food, but there are a group of volunteers organising the rest so that the children can still have access to their breakfast club,” Mr Kennedy said.