Free school stayed open despite warning of risk to life from fire

A struggling free school was allowed to stay open last year even though an official safety report had found that pupils and staff were at “high” risk of dying in a fire, Education Uncovered can disclose.

A safety audit on St Anthony’s school, in Cinderford, in Gloucestershire, carried out by an official from Gloucestershire County Council in February 2017 at the request of the school itself, concluded that “the risk to life from fire is high”, alongside a host of other health and safety concerns.

However, months appear to have passed with serious risks still not having been fully addressed, as draft minutes from a meeting of the primary school’s governors, dated July last year, show that fire safety “is currently inadequate”.

The school’s latest Ofsted, which saw it failed following a visit by inspectors in December last year, states that underlying issues in the report were not addressed until November 2017.

The school has had an alleged £750,000 worth of government-funded building work carried out since September last year, suggesting that the concerns in the report have now been addressed.