Leesons Primary School Orpington floods for second time

Leesons Primary School was flooded with sewage-ridden water back in July - ruining 10 classrooms, the school hall, all the PE equipment, staff offices and corridors.

The hall was finally back in use three months later which was just two weeks ago, and staff have again been forced to “scoop water” from the new hall after another flooding episode.

The heavy rainfall on Wednesday forced staff and parents to be at the school until the early hours of Thursday morning, clearing drains and sewers and trying to save the school furniture.

• READ MORE: 'Cars stuck, traffic diverted and knee-high wellies needed' in Bromley floods

Headteacher Phill Collins said the water “cascaded” into the school car park, hall, class rooms and hit around a couple of inches in height indoors.

He wants the drains and highways around the school maintained to stop this from happening a third time.

Mr Collins told the News Shopper: “Our school is in a bit of a bowl and when it rains heavily the drains can’t cope.

“All the water floods the lower part of the school.

“We only got our hall back in use two weeks ago and PE equipment replaced on Monday and we’re at a stage again where we’re having to scoop water up again in our new hall.

“We think the PE equipment will be okay this time as its still in bags – but we’re still working with the insurance for the first time round as the damage was so substantial it’s taken us until the last few weeks to finish the works.”

• READ MORE: Watch: Roads submerged in water as drivers struggle after heavy rain floods roads

Leesons Primary hasn’t yet replaced the furniture following the last flood, and has managed to ensure the disruption to its pupils has been kept to a minimum.

The children missed a “few days” of school at the end of the last summer term in July because the flood water was filled with sewage, but it was ensured that the classrooms, corridors and toilets were rectified first.

Mr Collins said: “The kids and staff have been absolutely phenomenal.

“They’ve got on with it and we’ve made sure everything is hygienic to enable them to do that.

“They haven’t even had book cases – their books have had to be kept in baskets on the floor.

“But they were all washed away yesterday because of the flood.”

The children at Leesons Primary School are currently on their half term holiday, and Mr Collins assures they will definitely be back in the school as planned on November 2.

Parents and staff, however, had their half term holiday cut short as they all clubbed together to save the school late last night and in the early hours of this morning.

Mr Collins added: “We had parents in school until midnight last night scooping water with snow shovels.

“Staff and parents were clearing and unblocking drains on the road.

“These highways and drains need to be maintained and cleaned to stop this from happening again because the water needs to vanish before it reaches my school.”

The Leesons Primary School parents’ association has created a fundraising page to help the school – and they have so far raised £2,417 out of a £2,500 target.

They have also created a petition to improve the drainage around the vicinity of the school.

Mr Collins explained that the money raised would replace the “magic” of the school – such as books and Christmas decorations that have all been ruined.

He said: “We can never completely list everything that’s gone missing from the school as much as the insurance claim is all well and good.

“Every single Christmas decoration went and Christmas is coming up and we haven’t even got a single bit of tinsel in the school.

“You don’t think about all these things until you’ve got 400 children and you realise, ‘oh we need Christmas lights’ or ‘oh we need a crib for our Nativity play’.

“A primary school is made up of magic and that’s all those little things.”

• READ MORE: Met Office forecasts sunny day in drastic weather U-turn after night of flooding chaos 

Bromley Council visited Leesons Primary School this morning and told Mr Collins they would liaise with the Highways Agency and Thames Water to help have the drains improved.

The council has been approached by the News Shopper for comment.

Mr Collins added: “I’ll be contacting the agency and Thames Water myself as my staff need reassurance.

“We were at the school until 2am, but we’ll get it sorted.

“We’re Leesons, and that’s what we do.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Wastewater flooding is horrible, and we sympathise with anyone who’s been affected by it following the recent heavy rain. 

“We’ve contacted the school to find out more about what happened, ahead of carrying out a full survey of the sewer network in the area to check for things like blockages that may have made the situation worse. 

“While Thames Water is responsible for the sewers, local authorities – who are the lead flood agencies – are responsible for managing surface water and maintaining roadside drains and gullies. 

“Severe weather patterns look likely to become the ‘new normal’ for the UK. We are committed to working with all the agencies responsible for drainage to ensure that this growing risk is managed.” 

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