Children left upset after vandals damage school swimming pool
DEVASTATED school children have been left in tears after vandals trashed their special swimming pool.
St James C of E Academy in Bulkington had hired a swimming pool so that its pupils could have lessons.
But this ‘magical’ experience has been ruined by yobs who broke into the Barbridge Road-based school at the weekend and damaged the pool as well as the marquee around it.
It meant that year 5 and 6 pupils would miss out on their last day of swimming.
Jane Cook, head teacher at the school, took to social media to express her sorrow at the ‘ very sad event’ at the school and urged the community for help to find the vandals.
“Over the past couple of weeks, the laughter and joy that could be heard and seen from the children during their swim session has been magical and for this to end as it has, has caused such sadness.
“We had a very sad event at school at the weekend. Unfortunately, a person or persons unknown illegally entered the school premises and caused damage to the Swimming Pool. The damage meant that the children in Years 5 and 6 missed out on their last day of swimming, this caused them sorrow and upset.
“I struggled yesterday to make sense of this when I was speaking with the children as they were incredulous that anyone would want to cause harm and prevent the children from being able to swim.”
She said that the incident has also affected the livelihood of the company they hired the pool from - and the actions of the vandals may leave other school children disappointed,
“This is a fantastic community most of the time and whoever did this has let the community down, my school community and themselves. I am asking for the community to help out with this, someone knows who did this and they need to be held accountable - if you have any information, please contact myself or the police.”
We contacted Warwickshire Police in regards to the incident and a spokesman said that investigations are underway.
Officers are keen to hear from anyone who saw anything or anyone acting suspiciously between 5.30pm on May 6 and 4pm on May 7 to come forward.
“Unknown offenders have gained entry to the school,” the Warwickshire Police spokesman said.
“They have caused damage to the metal structure of a marquee in the playground which is housing a temporary swimming pool. They also caused damage to the cover of the swimming pool by making a number of small holes in it. Any witnesses or anyone with information can call 101 quoting incident 247 of 7 May 2022.”
Details can also be passed on to officers via the independent charity Crimestoppers, which is free to call from a landline and confidential, on 0800 555 111.