At 9am on New Year’s Day, the building, a freestanding house, was still in flames, and efforts to extinguish the blaze are expected to continue into the afternoon, police have said.

Gudrun Rosén, the school’s curriculum manager, was on the scene this morning. “It was awful to see when the flames leapt into the sky. It will take a while,” she told TT.

The Gothenburg Fire and Rescue Service (Räddningstjänsten) managed to rescue a number of musical instruments – a double bass, drums and horns – from a music room, before the flames claimed the rest of the school’s contents, including clothes and props for an upcoming dance and drama performance.

The school, a timber building over one hundred years old, and which was previously a primary school, stands in an isolated location in Stenkullen. Several hundred children aged four and upwards will be affected by the fire. Students will be informed about the fire through the school’s website and by letter.

Meanwhile, work is already underway to find alternative premises for the students. “People are shocked. It is really very distressing. I have rung around to the teachers and all of them are disconsolate,” said Rosén.