Several schools across the county have been forced to shut due to the lack of water
Bottled water stations are open until 10pm(Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
A ‘furious’ Kent headteacher said the school could have avoided closure if it had received earlier information about the water crisis. A number of schools across the county have been forced to shut on Monday (January 12), while thousands of households remain without water or are experiencing low pressure or intermittent supplies.
Executive headteacher for four schools in Kent Emma Hickling said pupils have received lessons virtually today after informing parents of the closure on Sunday (January 11). She said the lack of information was ‘infuriating’.
A total of 270 pupils across three of her schools in Maidstone have been affected – including 120 children at Kingswood Primary School, 90 at Leeds and Broomfield CofE Primary School and 60 at Ulcombe CofE Primary School.
She told KentLive: “We made the decision yesterday (January 11) following the 3pm update from South East Water and informed parents then – hopefully allowing them enough time to sort childcare. The local authority did send an email with information yesterday, the water boards did provide updates as did local council members and our local MP.
“Our pupils have received lessons virtually today via google classroom, we would continue this if necessary. The lack of information about water beginning to return over night last night was infuriating as if we had known that there is a possibility with staff on site early enough we could have avoided closure. We are very mindful of our pupils who rely on the free school dinner and/ or our wrap around care so that parents can work.”
The Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF), a partnership of agencies and councils, have declared a major incident. Mike Martin MP, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells said he is working with schools and SE Water, so they can open tomorrow (January 13).
He said: “My office has compiled a list of affected schools and is working with them and SE Water to get grey water to the schools so they can flush toilets and open tomorrow. I’ve just got off the phone with Dave Hinton and have made it clear that this must be the top priority given that students should be taking very important A-level and GCSE mock exams right now.”
List of schools affected in Tunbridge Wells on Monday
- Speldhurst Primary School CLOSED
- Langton Green Primary School CLOSED
- St James CE Primary School CLOSED
- Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School OPEN – Affected
- The Skinners’ School OPEN – Affected
- Meadows School CLOSED (their site at TN2 3ND)
- Oakley School OPEN – Affected
- Skinners Kent Academy CLOSED
- St Peter’s CEP School, Tunbridge Wells OPEN – Affected
- Holmewood House CLOSED
- Claremont OPENING THIS AFTERNOON
Schools in other parts of Kent have been affected including Harrietsham C of E Primary School, and Tiger Primary School in Loose, have been closed for the day. South East Water (SEW) has blamed the latest outage, across 11 postcode areas, on Storm Goretti and cold weather causing burst pipes and power cuts.
Beleaguered SEW have said their repair teams are working “around the clock” and have apologised. Incident manager Matthew Dean, said: “We’re sorry to our customers across Kent and Sussex who are experiencing issues with their drinking water supply, including no water, intermittent supply interruptions or low pressure.
“Following the recent cold weather and a subsequent breakout of leaks and bursts across Kent and Sussex, our drinking water storage tanks are running very low and there are currently around 30,000 impacted properties across the two counties.
“This includes 16,500 properties in East Grinstead and the surrounding areas in Sussex, with parts of Tunbridge Wells also affected, along with some localised issues in other parts of Kent. We are incredibly sorry to all customers and businesses who have been impacted by this and we are doing all we can to restore supplies as soon as possible.”
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