Five hours for school to reassure parents

Parents have criticised a South Lincolnshire school for taking five hours to tell them about a gun incident while pupils were on site. But staff commended for dealing with situation.

Worried students at the site were kept in their classrooms at around 9am when the alarm was sounded, but many parents were not told anything officially until just after 2pm when a message was issued.

The school cannot be named publicly for legal reasons and details of the incident also cannot be revealed.

One parent said his 11-year-old daughter had been scared by the incident and he had been “worried sick that my child may have been in danger.”

“I’m appalled that parents weren’t told until five hours after the incident,” he said.

In the intervening hours, some students had contacted their parents who collected them from the academy early.

“My child was upset as she could see what was happening from her classroom window,” he said.

Police were called to the academy after reports of a firearm and knife on the premises.

A spokesman for the school said: “The incident on Monday was dealt with extremely quickly and professionally by school staff and police were called. No pupils came into contact with the individual involved and the school day was largely unaffected.

“All parents were notified by text as soon as it was possible to do so and school staff responded to a number of enquiries over the phone and in person.

“For legal reasons we cannot comment on the nature of the incident itself or subsequent police enquiries other than to again commend the actions of our teaching staff and to thank parents and pupils for their understanding and support.”

• A 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before magistrates on Tuesday, charged with being in possession of an air weapon with intent to cause the fear of violence and being in possession of a sharply pointed article on school premises.
  The case was adjourned and the juvenile remanded to a secure unit until his next appearance on November 20.