PARENTS GET PKC APOLOGY
Speculation over school glass incident
Perth and Kinross Council has apologised to parents of pupils at Crieff Primary for not putting them in the picture after a window pane in the school building broke. Speculation has been rife this week over potential safety issues with the Broich Road building after children came home saying they had spent part of the day at Strathearn Community Campus watching films and playing games because a window had broken through the night, allegedly crashing into the school grounds.
Mum-of-two Tamara Campbell said: “My daughter, who is in primary three, came home and said they had done no school work all day as they had been over at the campus watching films because a window had fallen in.
“I later spoke to friends that normally wait with their children until the bell rings and they told me that something strange had been going on that morning.”
Other parents confirmed
that when they had taken their children to school on Wednesday morning [September 6] the bell had not gone off.
They had hung about until teachers came out to collect the lines of classes but there had been no explanation given for the delay, fuelling rumours that there had been some sort of major incident at the school.
Mrs Campbell added: “Why didn’t they just tell us at the time instead of allowing our children to come home with these stories that something bad had happened that may have affected their safety?
“A simple explanation at the time wouldn’t have placed any doubt in anyone‘s mind.
“We normally get notified of everything that goes on. They text us about any changes that might affect the day - for example they texted to tell us that the open night would be on but they didn’t tell us that our children had spent the day at the campus doing no schoolwork. It’s not that I mind that but I think we should have known where they were and why.”
A spokesperson for the local authority has given reassurances that a window did not fall into the school.
However, they said that when janitors arrived at school they discovered that a pane of glass in a window was broken.
It was repaired that morning and there were no other concerns highlighted with any of the other windows in the building during a safety inspection.
The spokesperson said: “Last Wednesday when janitors arrived at Crieff Primary School they discovered that a pane of glass in one of the windows was broken.
“As a result, some pupils were redeployed to the community campus so that repairs could be dealt with immediately. Officers from the council’s property department were at the school that morning to repair the damage.
“A safety inspection found no issues. We apologise to the parents for not providing a further update.”