The big clean up!

And so the clean up has begun..... faces covered with masks to try to stop the smoke inhalation - St Teresa's wonderful staff worked together to try to save some of the work on display in the school. The hall was being worked on by professionals and we were tasked with taking down the work from the corridor, before the intensive clean could happen.

Its incredible the extent of the damage. Even classrooms which are well away from the ashen hall are filled with the stench of the smoke and the walls and floors have a layer of dirt which doesn't want to come off. Hundreds of reading books carry the same acrid smell.

Today we only spent a couple of hours in the building and yet our clothes feel polluted and our throats sore. To that end - I feel it important to commend the work of the Headteacher and Site Supervisor, who both spent most of yesterday in the smoky atmosphere and continue to do so today.

News update is that school will remain closed until Wednesday at the earliest, and even then there will be significant disruption. Not for me though! On Monday I take 26, 11 year olds, on a residential week to Ullwater in the Lake District. I shan't envy those left behind, sat at home , while school is closed. At least - I don't think so!