Charleston Academy Pupils slam 'disgusting, horrible, mouldy, depressing' school building
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Pupils at Charleston Academy have spoken out how they view the state of their school and they did not hold back with one saying “the buildings are just dirty and gross and it makes me want to change school.”
Worried parent Marion Rennie has been compiling the contributions of pupils in all years – and given some of their ages all their names will be withheld – after becoming increasingly concerned at the state of building.
And not without reason because in recent years the 777-pupil school has suffered repeated closures after being plagued by red mites and mice, and even unreliable reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found.
In June the school suffered a red mite infestation leading the council to seek specialist advice on the outbreak, then in August practical home economics’ lessons were suspended after mice were found in the school.
Prior to that – in what is a nationwide scandal affecting dozens of schools, hospitals and other buildings - reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was found. That is a type of concrete used in the 1960s and 1970s which was found to no longer be safe.
The school is due to be replaced by the local authority but local Councillor Alex Graham says it is time for the Scottish Government to get involved with additional support.
“Education is most certainly being affected with the school’s leadership team obviously moving classes round as needed,” said the former Inverness Provost.
“Some classrooms in some areas are out of bounds as the roof is currently unsafe and my own view is that there is substantial disruption of day-to-day working of the school.
“The school staff are doing an heroic job to cope but there is no doubt it is having an impact.”
That is what worries Marion Rennie the most and led her to bring together pupil’s opinions on the matter.
She said: “I believe it is important to include and respect the pupil’s voice. The pupils are being educated in a building that directly impacts their learning and wellbeing, and this is reflected in their heartbreaking words. ”
One pupil said: “The walls and ceilings have mould and drip marks. It can’t be right. The school is falling apart and there is nothing we can do about it.”
Another said: “Although the building is battered and bruised, teachers do what they can to work around damages. B floor was flooded and lessons were disrupted, water damage and a lot of buckets to catch drips. All solutions Charleson comes up with are temporary to a permanent problem.”
“Physically the building is crumbling but the teachers are kind-hearted, and care deeply about how we are learning,” said a third.
Altogether there were 39 responses from all years, ranging from one word summations like: – “Crumbling” – “Tosh” – “Shambles” – “Disgusting” – “Horrible” “Mouldy” – “Depressing” – “Trash” – “Terrible” and “Disgusting” again.
Others said: “It is crumbling, but the asbestos is the worst thing. there are damp patches on the ceilings and the corridors are way too narrow”
“When it rains, there are buckets put down on the top floor, along the tech corridor, inside classrooms. There are chunks out of the walls. Science desks have holes in them, locks on toilet doors don’t work”
And finally the clear assessment that the school’s condition is in fact impacting learning: “Failing. It makes it hard to learn if water is dripping on your desk. I had a bucket on my desk to catch the drops of the leaking roof.”
