If you heard the excited rumours on Thursday evening that the Ryde Academy science block had fallen down in the strong winds, it’s possible that you might not have subsequently heard what actually happened.
Not that surprising as the apparent drama of the school falling down doesn’t really compete with the true facts, which are happily a lot less exciting.
Rob Hoddle, the Principal from Ryde Academy sent VB through an update on Friday afternoon, but as we didn’t publish any news over the weekend, this is the first chance we’ve had to update you.
On Thursday evening damage occurred to a brick clad wall belonging to the science block on the school site. It is believed to have been caused by the strong winds which swept the area at that time.
The decision was promptly taken to take the eight class block out of action for the following day and declare the surrounding walkways out of bounds. A further four classrooms close to the affected block have also been closed for teaching purpose to deny all student and staff access to the affected area. This has meant timetable changes to the school day for the twelve teaching areas.
A structural engineer was immediately called and has confirmed that there is no structural damage to the science block building. All classrooms were back in use from Monday 12 December. There is restricted access to some of the adjacent pathways.
I can also confirm that when the damage was caused no students were on the school site and no one has been injured in any way. The safety and welfare of all our students and staff will remain our highest priority at all times.”
Rob Hoddle
Principal
