School site to reopen two years after wall collapse

A school building in Nottinghamshire is set to reopen more than two years after a collapsed wall closed its classrooms.

The specialist education site in Blidworth shut in Easter 2023 after a neighbour's wall at the rear of the site came down during heavy rainfall.

R.E.A.L. Independent School (RIS) Mansfield, which runs the Mansfield Road campus as well as six others in the area, has carried out repairs as well as using the closure to draw up plans for a new outdoor space.

Pupils with complex additional needs will be returning to use its two classrooms and smaller break-out rooms from Wednesday.

Then, in October, while learners are away for half-term, the outdoor learning space will be built with play equipment, artificial grass and planting.

Extensive structural damage was caused to the site when the wall collapsed, said Kelsey Hill, R.E.A.L. Education director of people and business operations.

She said: "There was so much rainwater at the time that it brought down a brick wall belonging to a property neighbouring our site.

"It wasn't something that we had much control over, but it was significant enough to cause structural damage to our building.

"As well as clearing up and making our building safe, we've also taken the opportunity to make a significant investment."

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