Special needs boy flees school

Last month Stacey Edwards arrived to pick up her son William from St Helen’s Primary School in Hemsworth to find him outside in the car park having escaped through a door in reception, where staff were monitoring him until she arrived, later than normal. Then, last Friday, Mrs Edwards arrived to collect William only to be told he had escaped from the reception area again. Staff had caught him and brought him back inside.

Mrs Edwards said: “I think it is disgusting that a four-year-old child has been able to escape from the school while under supervision.” She said staff were aware that William’s special needs mean he has no concept of danger and needs to be closely supervised.

She said: “I can’t take him to school now. He knows he can get out of the door at reception and it worries me when they go to the hall for dinner or assembly, that is what’s going to happen.”

The school’s headteacher Sue Henderson said on the first occasion William was seen leaving the building by a member of staff, with an adult “similar in size and stature to Mrs Edwards”.

She said: “Following this incident the school reviewed its procedures for children being collected late at the end of the day and changed them to ensure that all children who were not collected on time were signed for.”

She added that William had run to the door, opened the lock and let himself out, but a teacher followed and caught him. Mrs Henderson said: “The school reviewed the event immediately and were satisfied our procedures had been followed and were effective.”