PARENTS have criticised ‘disgraceful’ disruption to their son’s education, almost a year after a classroom block at his school was deemed unsafe.

Lesley and Simon Hunt are entering the summer break in a state of frustration, 11 months after a building at Faringdon Junior School collapsed on the second day of the academic year.

It has been cordoned off ever since and Year 6 pupils have been moved to a ‘mobile classroom village’, which has swallowed much playground space.

The couple, who are chartered engineers, said the delay in fixing the issue was ‘unacceptable’.

It comes three years after a classroom at nearby Faringdon Infant School was also found to be unsafe, while their son was there, and had to be demolished.

Mrs Hunt raised concerns pupils were being ‘taught in dangerous structures’, but school bosses ‘strongly refuted’ this.

Though there were no pupils in the junior class when part of the ceiling fell in, the mother-of-two recalled her son heard a ‘loud bang’ while in the class below.

The Faringdon resident said: “Fortunately no one was hurt, although it fell with sufficient force to cause two windows in the classroom below to crack.

“Our concern is that the next ‘near miss’ won’t be a near miss, but will actually involve a building collapsing on children.

“We have had no updates as to either what happened or when the block will be fixed.”

Both schools, which are rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, are run by Faringdon Academy of Schools.

Mrs Hunt added: “I think it is disgraceful that my son has twice been removed from classrooms at the trust’s schools.”

In March 2015, a survey ordered by the trust found corrosion of steel columns in the infant classroom, which it said ‘presents a health and safety risk’.

The building was immediately evacuated and cordoned off and it was part-demolished in 2016.

A Health and Safety Executive report that year concluded, so long as there was 'a thorough internal investigation', it was 'satisfied and assured the academy have appropriate procedures and systems in place to manage health and safety'.

A formal response to a complaint lodged by Mrs Hunt in 2015 stated the school knew the classroom was ‘in need of repair’ but ‘did not knowingly put staff and pupils at risk’.

Mr Hunt said the trust should have learnt lessons and carried out a full review of its facilities.

He said: “Had this review been undertaken, I believe the catastrophic structural failure of the junior school building two years later could have been avoided.”

A spokesperson for Faringdon Academy of Schools said the trust ‘strongly refuted’ any accusation that safety was at risk.

She added: “It goes without saying, that our highest priority is the safety of our pupils and staff at all of our academy schools.

“The building was evacuated by teaching staff as soon as it was clear that a problem had occurred.

“There have been no complaints from any other parents, members of staff or indeed pupils themselves.”

The spokesperson said the issues at the infant and junior schools were ‘entirely unrelated’ and the assumption that the latter collapse could have been foreseen was ‘without basis’.

An end-of-term newsletter published by the school two weeks ago said the cost of repairs was likely to exceed £1.5m.

It said the situation was ‘exasperated further when Carillion went into administration’.

The letter added: “The delay in resolving this is subject to ongoing insurance and legal activity.

“Whilst this has been very frustrating and upsetting for everyone, pupils and staff have been brilliant.”