BADLY installed roof lights helped lead to a primary school closing due to crumbly concrete, it has been revealed.

Now 240 children at St Andrew’s Primary School in Hatfield Peverel will be in temporary classrooms while work is undertaken to strengthen the main school buildings.

The measures also mean the children, who fully returned to school on October 18, have been left with a much smaller, hard-surfaced playground.

St Andrew’s has already installed one two-storey demountable classroom block, two single-storey demountable classroom units and four demountable lavatories.

Permission for the temporary classrooms is set to last 18 months, under the application submitted to Essex County Council’s planning department.

St Andrew’s was closed displacing 240 children and 46 staff following the government’s guidance on the structural stability of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) roofing system which is currently in place.

However, it has now been revealed that the school’s secondary supportive system was deemed insufficient due to poorly installed roof lights.

A statement as part of a planning application said: “Whilst the school’s system was being monitored and has a secondary supportive Metsec System in place, due to poorly installed roof lights the RAAC structure has been deemed to have been weakened beyond the structural capabilities of the supportive systems.

“This along with periodic roofing fabric failures has led to the school being closed for safety reasons.

“Closing the school has displaced approximately 240 children and 46 staff as a result.”

To remedy this issue, proposals are being formulated to remove the RAAC system and replace it with a new steel deck along with a new roofing system to guarantee the roofing fabric “for decades to come”.

The new units are on areas of the existing school playground – but this has reduced the space for children to play there from 1,885 square metres to around 800 square metres.

However, a 250 square metre marquee on playing fields will provide some mitigation against the loss of playground space.

A statement said: “The short-term use of these buildings will allow the school to re-open and provide suitable teaching facilities for the currently displaced pupils.

“The proposed relocatable units have been positioned in a considered location that meets the school’s day-to-day activity requirements, avoid any negative impact upon the surroundings and to allow works to be carried out on the main school building for the proposed temporary period.”