PUPILS at Bramhope Primary School had an enforced extended summer holiday after building work at the school over-ran, leaving parents forced to home-school them for a week.

The work was supposed to be finished on September 1 but parents say they were told late on Thursday September 8 - the day before school was due to re-open - that the gates would have to remain closed.

One angry mum said: “Parents blame the school and council for not arranging a plan B. The children are suffering and it forced stressed families to have to sort childcare.”

Hopes the school would open on Tuesday this week were dashed by an email sent to families on Monday evening saying that would not be the case. It was hoped that children would be back in the classroom on Thursday.

Bramhope Primary is part of the Collaborative Learning Trust network of schools and CEO Janet Sheriff said: “Staff, governors and trustees share the anger, disappointment and frustration expressed by parents and pupils - we agree that the disruption caused by the delayed opening is unacceptable.

“Although the Trust’s Estate Manager and leaders were aware that the expansion programme (project managed by Leeds Local Education Partnership) was behind schedule, they were assured that there would be access to the completed parts of the school to allow the return of all pupils on Friday as planned.

“School leaders and Trust staff were not made aware of the delayed safety checks, the health and safety concerns, or the serious risk of a delayed opening.

"Given the significant health and safety risks identified, I hope that parents and pupils will understand that Leeds LEP had no choice but to delay school opening – they could not ask parents to send their children into a building that was unsafe.

"I fully appreciate the significant disruption this has caused for pupils and parents, as well as the financial implication the delayed opening will have for many families. I can only apologise on behalf of all those involved in this project.”

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "We regret that the re-opening of the Bramhope Primary school to pupils has had to be delayed further as works which are essential to the health and safety of pupils and staff are incomplete.

“This is the result of experiencing unforeseen technical difficulties when connecting the new fire alarm system into the existing system. We’re working with contractors to quickly to rectify this issue and we apologise for any inconvenience caused to parents and students.”