Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Part of Madras College hall closed off after panels fall from wall during exam

Madras College.
Madras College.

Fife Council has insisted there is no cause for alarm after wooden panels fell from a wall as pupils sat an exam at Madras College.

The incident at the St Andrews secondary school’s South Street building last week resulted in part of the assembly hall being fenced off and prompted fears for pupil safety.

An external passageway was also closed.

The education service said investigations had shown it was not due to a structural issue and that repairs would be carried out as soon as possible.

But worried parents said it had exacerbated existing fears about the state of the building, which currently has a D rating, the lowest possible, for both condition and suitability.

One mother said her daughter had been sitting a prelim exam alongside other pupils in the assembly hall when wooden panelling clattered to the floor.

“The school has been falling to bits for ages and now we’re hearing the walls are shaking and bits are falling off,” she said.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The Courier newsletter


“Apparently there are engineers in assessing the situation and there’s scaffolding up and it’s quite concerning.

“The school is doing its best to make sure the kids don’t get near it but my fear is a child will end up injured. It’s very, very worrying.”

North East Fife Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said parents and pupils were right to be alarmed by the state of the building.

Willie Rennie

“We need a clear assurance from the school and the council that the building is safe for pupils and staff,” he said.

“The impact on education at an important part of the academic year could be significant.

“The council should publish its assessment of the condition of the building and its plan to prevent future incidents like this.”

Shelagh McLean, Fife Council’s head of education and children’s services, said swift precautions were taken by the school’s head teacher as soon as concerns were raised about a wall in the assembly hall.

“However an engineer’s inspection has confirmed that this isn’t a structural issue and there’s no cause for alarm,” she said.

“It seems that, at some point in the past, a section of glazed panels has been removed and infilled with masonry that shows slight movement.

“This doesn’t have any impact on the stability of the wall.”

She added: “We’ll be carrying out repairs as soon as possible and part of the assembly hall is being fenced off to allow this to happen, while the rest of the hall can still be used.”