BOY, 7, IN SCHOOL WALKOUT
Mum stunned as child turns up at door
A seven- year- old boy from Livingston was locked out of school and it took over half an hour before teachers realised he was missing.
Little Scott Neil left his schoolbag in the playground at Letham Primary last Monday morning and was sent out to get it by his teacher.
But when he tried to go back inside, the door was locked. He could not find entry to the school and, in a panic, he walked back to the family home in Craigshill, Livingston.
Luckily his mum Bernie (left) had not yet left for a hospital appointment.
She said: “I could not believe my eyes when he showed up at the door.
“It is not too far a walk but he was really cold because, obviously, he did not have his school jacket on.
“So I got him inside and gave him two cups of tea and brought some clothes off the radiator to heat him up. I have broken my leg and was due to go to a hospital appointment that morning.
“It’s really scary to think what would have happened to Scott if I had not been at home.
“I waited rather than just phone the school and it took them 45 minutes from when Scott walked out the playground until they phoned me to say he had gone missing.
“It must have been about 9.15am that he appeared at the door and then it wasn’t until precisely 10.06am that they got
in touch to report him missing to me.
“I was stunned and am not happy with the excuses either.
“I have been waiting on the council getting back in touch with me for six days now and have heard nothing. Nobody has apologised to my son and he is suffering from nightmares.”
Scott’s teacher was frantic with worry when the Safe Arrivals at School policy, a double-check of all the children in attendance that day, signalled that a child was missing.
They realised it was Scott and carried out a thorough check of the premises before contacting his mother. They have now introduced measures to ensure it never happens again.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “We regret that a child’s failure to return to class was not picked up immediately in this instance.
“Thankfully, our Safe Arrivals at School policy was followed and flagged up the absence soon after, and it was confirmed that the child was safe at home.
“A number of appropriate actions have been taken following the incident to ensure this does not happen again.”