THE flooding means a Kenley academy could be closed until July with hundreds of children being bussed to schools up to six miles away.
Harris Primary Academy Kenley was initially closed the week before half term, when pupils were sent to Woodcote Primary School, Woodcote High School and Harris Primary Academy Purley.
Three weeks on, all the school's pupils from reception to Year 5 have now had to decamp to Crescent School in Selhurst, while Year 6 children have been sent to Harris Academy Purley.
Kate Magliocco, head teacher of Harris Kenley (formerly Roke Primary) said this week: "Once the water levels have dropped and the rain has stopped, we will assess the damage that has been caused and be able to give a timeline for the repairs to be completed.
"Before we open again, the access roads to the school need to be fully reopened so that emergency services can safely get to the children and staff if needed."
Parents expressed concerns about their children having to adapt to new and temporary surroundings, the distance of the Crescent and the fact the pupils may not be able to have hot meals in the school's dining room.
Some were also worried about provisions for children with special needs and the cancellation of after-school clubs like football, which many have paid for.
For now, 350 children will descend on Tesco at Purley Cross every morning at 8.30am, and then in the afternoon between 3 and 4pm as buses take pupils to and from Kenley and the schools in Selhurst and Purley.
Caz Birch, who has one child at Harris, said: "It hasn't gone that well. It takes 25 minutes to walk here, all the roads are closed. We don't get back home till 5pm. It's a long day and the children are very tired already."
Zoe Nash, who has two children at the school, said: "The children are tired but they think it's an adventure. It's difficult if you have siblings at different schools. It would be better if they gave us more info on what has happened at the school."
The council has insisted there was no risk of contamination at the Kenley school but said it needed the "all-clear" from the Environment Agency before children could return.
"The initial closure was due to access problems," a council spokesman said. "The longer-term issue is with the use of the playing field as a temporary flood plain.
"July was only mentioned to reassure parents there won't be a need to move children elsewhere even if it takes some time to get things back to normal."
He refused to confirm whether the school had actually been flooded.
