Flash Ley reopens: Staff joy as pupils return to Stafford school after gas scare - PICTURES and VIDEO
Children returned to a Stafford primary school today over a year after high levels of formaldehyde gas was discovered, forcing it to close.
Flash Ley Community Primary School in Hawksmoor Road, Rising Brook, shut in October 2015, after around 20 pupils were taken ill.
Sixteen months later, and after weeks of hard work and preparation by teachers, the school has reopened.
Co-headteacher Karan Williams said: "To be back as part of our local community, we couldn't ask for more. We've been on a long journey but to think three days ago this was an empty shell and yet the staff have worked tirelessly to turn it into a full functional school.
"Being back at Flash Ley not only have we got the space but we've got the resources and can now to do lots of extra-curricular clubs which were difficult to do before."
After the school closed, pupils were moved to Chetwynd Centre, Tillington Manor Primary and Stafford Manor High, which is where they started the new school year in September.
Teachers moved into the school at the start of this week.
The council said that in July last year it had racked up a bill off more than £1.1 million making alternative arrangements for pupils for transport to other schools, removal of the toxic formaldehyde, and venting the buildings.
Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for learning and skills, councillor Ben Adams, said: "The parents have been tremendous over the last 12 months.
"We've been constantly monitoring the atmosphere in the school for several months.
"We're absolutely sure and confident that everything is as it should be.
"This hasn't happened anywhere else in the country so I think there's lessons others will learn from this."
