School questioned after boy, 5, goes home alone

A COUNCIL has been forced to apologise to a mother whose five-year-old was able to walk out of school unnoticed and cross a busy town centre alone.

The incident sparked a full-scale search by teachers, and Perth and Kinross Council has promised to undertake a "full review" of security at Inch View Primary School, on Perth's new Glenearn Community Campus.

The boy walked out alone at the end of the school day when he was supposed to have been taken to an after-school club operating within the building.

It is understood that the primary one pupil walked almost a mile back to his home in Perth's city centre, crossing busy roads unattended.

When he eventually arrived at his home he had to be looked after by a neighbour, as his mother was still at work.

Inch View Primary School opened last October as part of a 136 million project under which six new schools will be constructed across the Perth and Kinross area.

The new Inch View building is located on Perth's busy Glenearn Road, which links the city's main Edinburgh Road to the Craigie district of the city.

The maximum security Perth Prison is also located on the road.

A source at Inch View Primary said: "The school is very security-conscious, so everyone was shocked that this pupil was able to do this.

"The school's procedures kicked in straight away and there were teachers out looking for him, but luckily he hadn't come to any harm."

Perth and Kinross Council admitted that the incident had happened on Monday, but said school emergency procedures had been followed almost immediately.

A council spokesman said: "We can confirm that a pupil who was due to attend after-school care on Monday, 1 March, did instead leave the school premises and make his way home.

"It quickly became apparent to school staff that the pupil had not attended after-school care, and school procedures were triggered.

"The pupil's mother was immediately contacted and the depute head teacher left school to look for the boy, who was located at the home of a neighbour where he was being cared for."

The spokesman said the safety of all school pupils in Perth and Kinross was of the "utmost importance" and promised a review would take place.

The spokesman added: "The school has offered a full and frank apology to the mother of the pupil involved.

"An incident report has been completed and a full review of procedures is under way in an effort to ensure that this type of incident does not happen again."