Schools fire safety
Fire safety arrangements in our schools and information about cladding
In June, the government asked councils to identify whether any schools in their borough have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are over four storeys high.
We passed this information on to the government as requested, and also shared it with the London Fire Brigade so that they can carry out fire safety checks and fire risk assessments as appropriate.
We identified eight schools in buildings which have some ACM cladding, though in some cases the amount of cladding is restricted to relatively small areas.
Only one of these schools is also over four storeys high, and in that case the school itself does not occupy the full height of the building, only the ground and first floor. There are residential dwellings on the higher floors. Residents have been informed of the presence of ACM by their landlord, the Guinness Partnership, who have commenced 24/7 fire safety patrols.
All other schools are under four storeys high and therefore do not meet the government’s criteria; however, we are keen to do all we can to ensure resident safety and so we are going beyond government advice and looking into next steps for all schools with ACM cladding, regardless of height.
The headteachers of all eight schools have written to parents, to keep them informed.
We have asked London Fire Brigade to visit each of these schools to see if there are any additional actions that should be taken to ensure the buildings meet fire safety standards.