Pupils at Aberdeen’s £47million super-school fear they could end up failing their January exams after all cooking classes were suspended indefinitely.
Staff at Lochside Academy informed parents practical lessons for home economics will be cancelled for the foreseeable future due to the lack of properly functioning fridges.
All nine of the fridges purchased for the school, which opened just four years ago, are said to be out of order with Aberdeen City Council unable to clarify when the issue will be fixed.
While teachers broke the news to the pupils only last week, it is understood it has been an ongoing problem since March.
Teachers were reported to have been forced to swap the appliances periodically over the last few months to prevent the food from getting spoiled and resume classes as usual.
Pupils told to ‘focus on theory’
Following a recent inspection by the Lochside Academy’s health and safety team, it was concluded that none of the fridges are currently suitable for use.
Council officials said their resources team was first contacted about the faulty fridges in July during the summer holidays and have been working with the school ever since.
In a letter sent out to parents last week, head teacher Justin Noon said: “Our internal health and safety processes have identified an unsafe fluctuation in the temperatures of all fridges in the department.
Strawberry Tarts made by S3 pupils this week in Home Economics. Delicious! 🍓 pic.twitter.com/BOyX8UV2tm
— Lochside Academy (@Lochsideaca) June 15, 2022
“In contrast, the readings obtained by a specialist engineer in refrigeration suggest they are within a normal range.
“The safety of our young people is our number one priority and we have taken the decision to postpone practical lessons and concentrate on theory lessons until we investigate further.”
‘Everything was kept quiet’
Lochside Academy, which replaced the old Torry and Kincorth academies, opened in 2018 and was once hailed as a “school fit for the 21st century” by education bosses.
The three-storey building is the largest school in Aberdeen and includes a swimming pool, a dance studio and sports pitches.
The recent hurdles with the school’s fridges and “the lack of timely action from the council”, however, has become the cause of “frustration and worry” among students.
With home economics classes now “concentrating on theory”, senior pupils fear they will be “disadvantaged” when it comes to the practical part of their upcoming prelims.
One pupil, who wished to remain anonymous, said it’s “extremely disappointing” they are in this situation, given that the council was supposedly informed “a while ago”.
The 15-year-old added: “The classes are usually well set out, so it was quite the shock when we went in and there was no food on the tables. We knew something was up, and the explanation we got was that all of the fridges were broken.
“The teachers are really frustrated because they have been trying to get it sorted since March and nothing has been done. Everything has just been kept quiet under a blanket.
“I felt quite confident about the prelims before that, but now we can’t cook anything at all – even non-perishable food – until we get new fridges.
“By the time we order and get new ones, we would have missed tens of hours of cooking – and that is really worrying. We just won’t have the right education for our exams.”
‘If we don’t pass, I’d blame the school’
While Aberdeen City Council said they are working to resolve the problem as soon as possible, there has been no indication when students will be supplied with new fridges.
A spokeswoman said: “We are committed to resolving the issue as soon as possible to ensure our young people are back to completing practical work in their home economics classes as soon as possible. We will continue to update parents and carers.”
The Lochside Academy pupil added: “If we don’t pass the exams, then we don’t pass the exams – but I would put the blame on the school.
“I want us to get new fridges, but I also want to feel more supported by the school in general. I need to know that I can trust my school to fix the problem when something like this happens without me having to look for help elsewhere.”
Conversation