Gates put up at Brockenhurst Primary School amid safety fears

HUGE gates and screening put up at Brockenhurst Primary School following claims by the headteacher that passers-by have been talking to pupils and even taking photos of them have angered some parents.

The measures, which parents say are “total overkill” and make the school resemble a prison, were introduced alongside a public footpath and car park.

Parents were faced with the barriers when they returned with their children to the school in Sway Road after the Easter holidays.

One mum said: “We were all shocked. No one had any idea they were going to be there, and when we asked what was going on we were told that there was a ‘safeguarding’ issue and that ‘people had been loitering’ around the gate at lunchtimes and during the day.

“They are very ugly and imposing, like a prison perimeter. We used to be able to see the children going into school but we can’t now.”

Head John Littlewood told the A&T: “There is heavy footfall through there [the footpath and car park], and we have had incidences of people stopping to talk to the children in the playground and even take pictures, which we have asked them to delete immediately.

“We have not reported the issue to the police as the people we have spoken to have deleted the photos and there seemed no need to.

"Our number one priority is safeguarding the children, and the gates and screening will do that. We could not have a person manning the gates all the time.”

He added: “The green screens match the aesthetics of the trees around the school.”

But one furious mum said: “It’s total overkill. It’s left us all angry. There was no notification this was going to happen, and the PTA had no idea either.

“We certainly haven’t been told of any potential outside threat that would justify the caging of our children from the outside world.

“We didn’t even have the chance to warn our children, who have been left confused about all this. My little girl said they felt like they were in a cage now and that when they wanted to see outside ‘we have to look up at the sky now’.

She continued: “I can’t imagine the residents of Brockenhurst will be very pleased about it either, as it was a lovely looking little school before.

“We certainly haven’t been told of any potential outside threat that would justify the caging of our children from the outside world."

There was no record on the national park authority's website of a planning application having been submitted for the new structures.

Another parent criticised the headteacher for not alerting them there was a safety issue in the first place, saying: “If our children are not safe at school, surely we should be told that? Not learn about it because huge great screens have been put up.

“The stupid thing is that at the bottom of the playground there is open common, where anyone can spy on the children, but there are no screens there.”

In an Ofsted report last year, the headteacher was told some parents felt communication “between home and school could be improved” and that the governors were “working hard” to do that.

On its website, the school has a regular newsletter but no information about the gates had been posted.

This week Mr Littlewood said that in the last newsletter, the school had asked parents to avoid standing at the entrance, and that they would be informed about the new measures in the next letter.

Some parents said they had complained to school governors and also to Brockenhurst Parish Council.

One said: “God knows how much this cost. A lot of us would like them removed - they are not needed. What next - screening kids on the beach or in the play park?”