‘MINDLESS’ VANDALS TRASH SCHOOL VISITED BY PRIME MINISTER
More than £3,500 has been raised following the break-in
THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised for a school targeted by thieving vandals.
Parents set up the online appeal after yobs got inside St Mary’s Primary School, in Tunstall, on Friday night.
The vandals smashed up a garden shed, destroyed animal cages, and stole garden tools. The repair bill will run into thousands of pounds.
It comes just two months after Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the school on a whistle-stop tour of the city.
Headteacher Clare Morton said: “We’re very upset. We’ve got a huge focus on outdoor learning so for that area to be destroyed was quite devastating. The children had started a gardening club last Wednesday so their plants and tools were up there and they’ve been destroyed.
“The children have been upset. We’ve got a farm area up there with small animals. So the children were very worried that the animals had been hurt. Luckily they haven’t, they left the animals alone, but the children were very concerned about that. We will use the money raised to revamp the whole area.
“We are determined that something positive will come out of this, and positive for the community, because they’ve just been amazing.”
Parents have been left ‘gutted’ by the vandal attack.
Tableware designer Lisa Glazzard, aged 44, from Milton, said: “It’s just so disappointing after what the children, teachers, and staff here have been through over the past year.”
Full-time carer Mark Godwin, aged 57, from Fenton, who has a grandchild at the school, said: “It is an indictment of the times that we live in.”
The Justgiving appeal had a £1,000 target to replace the shed, tools, cages and animal feed. But more than £3,500 has already been raised.
Appeal founder Matthew Harrison said: “Everyone at this school works so hard to provide the absolute best education for the children who attend it.”
Police are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with any information about the break-in should call the police on 101.