Assessment work underway at Glaitness Primary School dining hall following roof issues

Assessment work underway at Glaitness Primary School dining hall following roof issues.

Orkney Islands Council is carrying out urgent detailed assessment work after a failure in the roof trusses of the Glaitness School Dining Hall was reported.

Early indications are that a wooden truss split along the line of the fixing bolts and failed, leading to movement in the roof and consequent truss failure in adjacent trusses.

With this presenting a risk to the overall integrity of the roof, supportive scaffolding has now been erected. A full structural survey is now required and as such the dining hall will be out of use for some time.
 
Alternative arrangements for school dinners are being investigated and parents will be updated before the start of the new school term on 22 August.

We've gathered the following information which we hope you will find useful

What has happened?

On Wednesday 9 August 2023 a failure in the roof trusses of the Glaitness School Dining Hall was reported to Council Building Inspectors.

This was promptly examined by Building Inspectors and our Engineering team and it has been confirmed that a wooden truss supporting the roof and ceiling had split along the line of the fixing bolts and failed.   This has led to stress in adjacent trusses and consequent failure in them too.

Supportive scaffolding has been installed to ensure the integrity of the roof whilst further structural assessments take place.

The hall has now been declared out of use until works can take place.

What is the suspected cause?

At this early stage, we will need to allow the structural engineers, who will be on site in the coming days, to conduct their investigation and report back to us.

When is it likely to be fixed?

The full structural assessment has been arranged to take place this week, w/c 14th August.   

In the meantime, the hall is stable but not safe for use and has been closed. The structural survey should ascertain what works are required and if an adequate solution can be identified to strengthen the current trusswork.

Once this structural survey has been completed, an assessment can be made regarding the duration and extent of the closure required.

What will the arrangements be for school meals now?

Arrangements are being made by the Education, Leisure and Housing Service and details have been communicated to parents.

A full service will still be available, served from the sports hall. Two lunch sittings will continue as normal.

In terms of PE timetabling, the children will still receive their PE lessons. Some of the classes will need to have PE outdoors to accommodate the use of the sports hall as the dining room. During the Covid-19 pandemic, all PE lessons were outdoors for an extended period of time and this worked well.  Further information on this will follow to those classes affected.

Could someone have been injured if this had happened during the school term?

The roof held, but any failure in a truss can be a serious structural issue, so it is being treated as such. There is no evidence of any debris falling to the ground or near miss. However, we have installed scaffolding to support the roof and stabilise the area.

Will other schools of a similar construction be checked to see if there's an issue?

We did not identify any facilities with an identical construction to Glaitness, so widened our review to assess any of a similar construction i.e. open trusses.  Four properties were assessed last week - with no issues identified -  with assessments at another five to follow this week.

The properties assessed last week were St Margaret's Hope School, St Andrews School, Orphir School and St Colms Day Centre.

The properties to be assessed this week are North Walls School and Swimming Pool, Sanday School and Swimming Pool, Westray Swimming Pool, Stronsay Swimming Pool and the Strynd Nursery.

Does this have anything to do with the extension work?

No. The dining hall is part of the original facility and there is no concern that any of the issues are related to the new extension work which is in a different location some distance from the affected area.

Will the whole school have to close?

The adjacent areas (interior and exterior) have been checked and are not considered to be at risk and no closure is required. This includes the school kitchen although access routes will need to be amended to minimise the need for staff to go through the hall. All other areas are considered safe including the school nursery, classrooms, and sports hall.

I’m worried about my safety at the school – should I be concerned and can I chat to someone about it?

We absolutely understand that parents, carers and  may be concerned. We would offer further reassurance that the issue was picked up quickly as it would have during term time. Therefore, due to the integrity of the roof and the work to stabilise the trusses, there is no suggestion that pupils would have been in any danger.  Should you have any concerns please contact the school.