School floods

6 January 2011, 12:29

A school in Milton Keynes has had to extend its Christmas break, after it flooded over the holidays.

Despite the heating being left on, pipes on three boilers at Wavendon Gate School in Milton Keynes burst because of the cold weather - meaning water leaked in to classrooms and corridors for several days while no-one was in.

Staff were alerted to the problem by a 'Good Samaritan' passer-by who noticed something was wrong on Boxing Day.

It was then they discovered the extent of the problem and realised several carpets needed ripping out and decided children had to stay at home until Monday 10th January.

Classrooms and corridors have been affected the most, and several books which were stored close to the ground have had to be thrown out.

Luckily though, areas like the library and IT room avoided water damage because they're located away from the boilers, and most of the children's work has been unaffected.

Andy Eastlake - the Chair of Governors at the school - told Heart:

"Had we not found it on Boxing Day and it had been running for two or three days more, I know from personal experience that the results could have been much, much worse."

"We managed to remove all of the wet material very, very quickly, which has allowed us to start the dry out process much more quickly than would have been the case if we'd left it for a couple more days."

Mr Eastlake says they're trying to get in touch with the person who noticed the problem:

"We would love to hear from the Good Samaritan. I'm afraid I don't know whether it was a man or a woman who notified us, but we would love to hear from them because I think they really have helped us minimise the disruption to the school operation."

Teachers and support staff have been working non-stop this week to salvage as many materials as possible.

By Saturday temporary wooden floors will have been put down, and pupils should be able to return to lessons on Monday. They're all being told to wear plimsoles to minimise the amount of noise they make on the wood.

The new carpet will be put in over the next few weeks - and the work's being planned for weekends so there's as little disruption as possible.