Nazareth House Primary School Stays Closed For Second Day

Nazareth House Primary School Stays Closed For Second Day

Terri Lamberton with son Daniel, 7, and 10-year-old daughter Gail

than 200 pupils at Nazareth House Primary School in Londonderry remain at home on Thursday, after safety concerns over the building’s roof forced the school to close.

The Education Authority (EA) said urgent remedial works have been prioritised to allow it to reopen as soon as possible, but parents like Terri Lamberton are worried about how long that will take.

She has two children at the school, including seven-year-old Daniel, who has special educational needs.

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“Because of the disorders that my own wee child has, routine and repetition for him is so important and his ability to retain information will really be affected by not being able to access school,” she said.

than 200 pupils at Nazareth House primary school remain at home on Thursday

School roof safety concerns

“I’m really concerned about how long this is going to take.

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“He’s a very anxious wee boy, so it’ll be a case of (him) asking when, when, when and why?”

Daniel said: “I’m really sad and I miss all my friends as well as my classroom assistants, my teacher and my principal.”

The school first closed on Wednesday after an inspection of the roof found that it was unsafe.

Ms Lamberton told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme it was “such a shock” and left families “very little time to prepare”.

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For 10-year-old daughter, Gail, the two main concerns are her education and lack of contact with children she had been used to seeing almost every day.

“I am quite sad I can’t see my friends,” she said.

“But my worry is I am in P6 and I am going to be getting ready for my transfer test.

“I am very sad.”

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Her mother said they were “devastated and concerned at how long this was going to go on for”.

“We have such a solid community base and I would really encourage parents just to hang in there and give grace to Nazareth House,” she said.

Principal Róisín Blackery says they have been raised concerns about the structure of the building for 20 years or

The building on Bishop Street dates back to 1902 and principal Róisín Blackery said they had been raising concerns over its structural safety for two decades.

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She said the school submitted a business case for a new roof to the EA in 2017, but it was “not actioned”.

“We have been concerned about patches of damp, about all sorts of ramifications of damp wallpaper peeling off the walls and things like that,” she said.

“Calls have been continually raised with the EA regarding the problems.”

School maintenance funding

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Bishop Donal McKeown says money needs to be spent on school maintenance

The Catholic Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown chairs the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, which is the governing authority of Nazareth House primary school.

He said education bodies were not putting enough money into maintenance and funding should now be reviewed.

“There’s been a huge under-funding of statutory services,” he said.

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“This is just one thing, it was going to happen sometime, somewhere and it has happened here.”

He said there needed to be a renewed look at education and the needs because “if we don’t deal with our children now, there are bigger problems in the future”.

Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy says it is a ‘very testing time’ for the school community

Sinn Féin assembly member Pádraig Delargy said it was a “deeply upsetting time for staff, parents and pupils, particularly in the run-up to Christmas”.

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“The school is simply asking for an agreed and practical solution that allows the school community to be kept together, facing minimum disruption to learning and school life,” he said.

“The Department (of Education) and the Education Authority must get to grips with this issue and similar issues faced by other schools.”

Education Authority budget challenges

The EA said it was “deeply concerned” at the growing school maintenance and repair backlog across Northern Ireland due to lack of funding for the education sector.

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“As a result of current budgetary restrictions, we are only able to carry out emergency maintenance works,” a spokesperson said.

“This is an increasingly unsustainable position.

“Without significantly increased levels of funding, school buildings will continue to decline, increasing the potential for further disruption to classes.”

The Department of Education (DE) has been asked for comment.

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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.


Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.


Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-12-04 20:44:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com

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