A dedicated student at a school badly affected by the concrete building crisis has said he is concerned about the impact it is having on his education.

Pupils at St Leonard’s School in Durham have been unable to return to full time face-to-face learning since the start of term.

The school has a large amount of RAAC (Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) in its buildings and there are now not enough safe classrooms for the 1,400 children.

Read more: Protest planned over RAAC disruption at St Leonard's School in Durham

Parents are calling on the Government to prioritise a planned rebuild of the school and in the meantime authorities are trying to find new places for children to learn.

Now, four weeks into the new academic year, changes to school life are beginning to take a toll.

Some pupils are only in school one day a week and then, for many, it involves learning with clipboards in corridors instead of at desks, or in a busy sports hall.

James Ramshaw, from Sacriston, who is year ten, chose to study history geography and German for his options at GCSE, but the school is focussing only on core subjects.

He fears his education is suffering across the board.

The Northern Echo: James Ramshaw is in year ten James Ramshaw is in year ten (Image: Gavin Havery)

Read more: St Leonard's School in Durham with RAAC tried to get funding years ago

The 14-year-old said: “We have fallen behind compared to other schools and other kids who have done lessons every single day are ahead of us so it is a bit worrying at times. I cannot lie.

“It could potentially affect A-levels if we should be covering that stuff.

“It is not the best situation but we cannot fault the teachers. They have tried their hardest.”

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James is one of a generation of youngsters where school life has already been severely affected by lengthy absences due to Covid lockdowns.

He said: “We have just come back from the six weeks and have been coming in for two days a week and previously it was one day a week.

“In school though we have been in classes of up to 100 people so it is the whole year group.

“There is online school, but it is hard to concentrate at home. I would much rather be at school learning.

“I just wish it could be sorted.”