School's out as classroom ceiling caves in

Sep 18 2007 By Steve Johnson, Birmingham Mail

SCORES of youngsters at a Halesowen school will miss lessons this week after a ceiling collapsed, causing a power failure.

The suspended ceiling in a science lab at Windsor High School came down over the weekend.

The collapse caused a problem with the electrical systems and the alarms, and pupils turning up at the Richmond Street school yesterday were sent home.

A school spokesman said the problem had now been rectified, but the downstairs of the new science block had been closed while safety checks were conducted throughout the building.

The spokesman added that the school would be closed to Year 8 today and tomorrow and Year 9 on Thursday and Friday. All other year groups were being told to attend school as normal.

A total of 1,400 pupils attend the school, but many of them discovered early yesterday morning that the school would be closed and did not turn up.

School spokesman Lorraine Gaskell said that only a small number of pupils had arrived on site and had to be turned away.

"Pupils were not allowed on the premises yesterday because fire alarms were not working.

"I was answering calls from 7 am.

"We cannot contact every single student, but it is amazing how the message gets through.

"Parents saw a message on the website and word soon got round, which meant only a small number of pupils turned up yesterday anyway."