School roof repair will ensure snow repeat of collapse

SNOW-proofing has been carried out at a city high school after a ceiling collapsed last week due to the weight of snow and icicles.

Council chiefs ordered timber "snow boards" – which are used in countries more prone to Arctic weather – to be installed at Balerno High to take the weight of snow which caused a ceiling to cave in on 5 January.

Part of the school had to be closed off after two ground-floor classrooms were damaged.

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First-year pupils were not able to return until yesterday, while the rest of the school returned on Monday.

The damage – which will take some time to fix – includes minor roof structure and window repairs and damage to the suspended ceiling, light fittings and carpets.

The precautions have been put in place following a health and safety risk assessment which concluded that the school was vulnerable to severe weather because it is situated on high ground.

Snow boards are fixed on a bracket at the bottom of the roof and have a shelf which consists of a timber board, which is strong enough to take the weight of heavy snow. They can also aid the thawing out process.

Council chiefs say snow boards could be installed at other buildings in the city, depending on other outbreaks of "freak weather".

Writing on the school's website, headteacher Rory Mackenzie said: "Following damage to two ground-floor classrooms, caused by snow falling off the roof, a full health and safety risk assessment has been carried out with the council's property care department.

"Contractors have erected permanent 'snow boarding' on the roof of the Bridge Road side of the school. This measure should prevent any further incidents of damage to classrooms.

"Repair work to the roof, ceiling and other parts of the two damaged classrooms will take longer and involve some inconvenience for pupils and teachers in modern languages and mathematics."

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Liz Carrie, a member of the school's parent council, said she is glad the precautions have been put in place to protect pupils.

She said: "It is an extremely good way to protect our children and I'm happy that the school has acted quickly to do so.

"It could have been very serious and it was extremely fortunate there was nobody in the classroom when the ceiling collapsed.

"I was quite confident to send my children back to school, knowing that they would be safe."

A council spokeswoman said: "We decided to put snow boarding on the roof of Balerno High because of the severe weather and the fact that the school is in an area of the city which is higher up than most other schools.

"Snow is beginning to thaw in the Balerno area and future rolling out of snow boarding depends on the frequency and volume of snow in freak weather incidents."