Cyberattack forces Higham Lane School closure and prolonged disruption to teaching

A cyberattack beginning around 03/01/2026 took down HIGHAM LANE SCHOOL's IT environment, including telephones, email, servers and its school management system. The school was unable to reopen as planned after the Christmas break and later confirmed that it remained fully closed for four school days before moving to a rolling attendance programme across its sites. Even after all students returned, staff were teaching without normal systems and resources, and by 30/01/2026 several systems remained unavailable or only partially restored. The incident therefore caused a direct interruption and subsequent degradation of the school's education service rather than merely a data-security event.