The Head Teacher of Ross High School has written to parents/carers providing an update on work in the dining hall.
Dear parents/carers
We wrote to you on 8 September to explain that the dining hall at Ross High School was being closed as a temporary measure.
Survey work established that Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a lightweight form of precast concrete, is present in the dining hall at Ross High School.
The closure of the dining hall has enabled work to be carried out on improving the bearing of the RAAC. This work, which involved the installation of some supplemental steel supports, has been progressing well and we can confirm that the dining hall will re-open as anticipated, shortly after the October half term break. We hope it will be open as soon as practically possible in the first week back, depending on how quickly things can be set-up to provide lunches here again.
We would like to thank all students, parents and carers for their patience and understanding during this period. While the temporarily arrangements for lunches have worked well under the circumstances, we know everyone will be looking forward to using the dining hall again.
In order to ensure that a long-term technical solution is in place, it is proposed that a new timber structure will also be installed in affected parts of the dining area to support the existing roof. This will result in the RAAC becoming a non-structural component of the roof fabric with the roof fully supported by the new wooden structure. Work on this will be carried out during the summer holidays in 2024.
Everyone’s health and safety is our top priority and I would again like to re-assure you that no other area of the building at Ross High is affected. We will provide any further updates when required.
Yours sincerely,
Mr P Reynolds
Head Teacher