Parents’ anger as primary school stages a break-in

Scared pupils weren’t told it was fake

IT probably seemed like a good way to stimulate pupils’ creative juices.

Primary school teachers staged a break-in during assembly, then encouraged the children to write newspaper-style reports about the ‘crime’.

Unfortunately, some youngsters who returned to find their classroom apparently ransacked and iPads ‘stolen’ were upset at the ‘burglary’ – while angry parents complained that they had not been informed.

The pupils, aged nine and ten, were told that while they were in assembly there had been a break-in at Ribble Drive Community Primary School in Whitefield, Greater Manchester.

They were asked to look for evidence before the police arrived and then to write an account of what had happened.

Pupils were not told that Wednesday’s raid was a stunt, but perhaps giving a clue that they had not really been targeted by hardened criminals, among the ‘loot’ was a teacher’s packed lunch and Easter egg.

But Valerie Morris, 50, whose son Ben, nine, attends the school, said: ‘Ben was really quite upset by it. The first I heard about it was when we got home and he told me the school was broken into while they were in the hall.

‘He said the classroom had been trashed and they had taken the iPads. My first thought was, “How did they get in?” The doors and gates are locked when the kids are in school.’

She claimed that pupils who had experienced burglaries at home could have been traumatised by what happened at school. ‘It would bring back all those emotions of when you’re a victim of a crime,’ she added.

According to the school, parents were informed about the exercise later that day via a mobile phone app – but Mrs Morris did not receive the message and said she had previously complained that the system did not work.

‘First of all I was shocked and worried, but after finding out it was a hoax, I was just angry,’ she said. ‘If you’re going to stage something like that, you make sure it looks fake. You don’t stage it without giving them any warning then let them go home to worry about it.’

Louise Graham, 39, said: ‘When my daughter Amelia came out of school she said it had been broken into. She is very sensitive about this kind of thing.

‘She’d been holding in the tears at school because she hates crying in front of people, but when she told me, she started crying.’

Headmistress Kath Higson said: ‘This is a complete storm in a teacup and has been needlessly overblown.

‘We frequently hold events to stimulate children’s creativity in writing, such as inviting in a “real” pirate to talk about their adventures on the high seas.

‘At no time did we alarm or cause distress to the children, who thoroughly enjoyed the event and are writing a range of great “newspaper reports” about it. The vast majority of parents are totally supportive of the school.’

‘My daughter is very sensitive’