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School to raise fence amid safety concerns

5:30am Friday 25th May 2007

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SAFETY concerns have arisen over a low fence next to a Southampton school in light of the abduction of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

Governors at Sinclair Nursery and Primary School in Lordshill have written to the city's education boss Clive Webster calling for urgent action on increasing the fence height.

The 4ft 6in wire fence runs between the back of the school and Lordshill Way. It will cost in the region of £6,000 to replace with galvanised steel fencing.

Head teacher Debbie Adamson said that the school had already identified the fence as needing replacing and work was now under way to carry it out.

She said that until a new fence is built staff would continue to stand guard near it to ensure that no child climbs over it and on to the busy road, and that strangers are kept out.

A Southampton City Council spokesman said: "The school has contacted us very recently to inform us of this situation and we are working with them to come up with an appropriate solution. This may involve the Safe Schools Initiative, which will assess the specific needs at Sinclair."

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Your Say YourThis is Hampshire

hmm, says...
8:33am Fri 25 May 07

This is just bizarre

If someone wants to grab a kid a fence will not stop em. Next you wont see kids out in the summer playing, i guess this explains why they are getting so fat

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Steve, Southampton says...
10:46am Fri 25 May 07

and to finish it off, we will top it with barbed wire fencing

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Magic Johnson, Southampton says...
10:57am Fri 25 May 07

hmm wrote:
This is just bizarre If someone wants to grab a kid a fence will not stop em. Next you wont see kids out in the summer playing, i guess this explains why they are getting so fat
This isn't bizarre at all.A 6ft fence would stop a normal height individual lifting a child over.
It's about risk management and I for one would want my child to be safe whilst at school.The real shame is that this story has been bolted on to the McCann abduction.

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Guv, Soton says...
11:23am Fri 25 May 07

I am a school govenor in the city and am appalled at this suggestion.
Unless I am much mistaken schools in Southampton are not leaving children un-attended whilst they pop off for some food are they?
The last thing we need is high fences around schools - what we need is to educate parents how to look after their children whilst on holiday and prosecute them when they leave them un-attended!

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local, Southampton says...
11:48am Fri 25 May 07

The need for this fence is urgent - the school in question has a mound of earth with slides on in front of this low fence - the fence can not be viewed from the playground - these kids have already had men expose themselves and teenagers from Oaklands school throw things at the small children and hurl abuse at staff - its a shame the story has been sensationalised but if it gets the fence put up quicker well all to the good.

As for School Guvs comments try to seperate the two issues it might make you a more effective school governor.

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nobabysitter?, says...
11:50am Fri 25 May 07

Totally agree with Guv

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Don Thomas, Coxford says...
1:00pm Fri 25 May 07

This is a new fence around a new school and should of never of been an issue in the first place. The fence needs to be sorted, and I have no doubt it will now thanks to the echo high lighting what could of been a nasty situation with a nasty outcome, THANKFULLY thats been prevented . Teachers and staff have enough to do without having to worry about patroling and keeping a look out for dirty old and young men at play time.

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L, Soton says...
4:27pm Fri 25 May 07

Don Thomas wrote:
This is a new fence around a new school and should of never of been an issue in the first place. The fence needs to be sorted, and I have no doubt it will now thanks to the echo high lighting what could of been a nasty situation with a nasty outcome, THANKFULLY thats been prevented . Teachers and staff have enough to do without having to worry about patroling and keeping a look out for dirty old and young men at play time.
Surely patrolling playgrounds is part of teacher and staff duties as they have been for many years.

I think to suggest that staff have enought to do without having to worry about thier tasks is a slippery slope. If staff are not to patrol playgrounds ensuring our children are kept safe what are they there to do??

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Don Thomas, Coxford says...
6:50pm Fri 25 May 07

Posted by L Soton The answer to your question is TEACH!

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Paul, Southampton says...
8:23pm Fri 25 May 07

Don Thomas - Not everyone who works in a school is a teacher but their input is just as vital. The post you commented on rightly said `teacher AND staff`. Typically, you seem to think the world revolves around teachers, and believe me, in the real world it just doesn`t.

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Sue, says...
8:47pm Fri 25 May 07

Hazel Wood Infants in Totton has a ridiculously low wooden fence surrounding it. Maybe the Education Department should be looking at all perimeter fences at schools so that all children are kept equally safe!

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Robert, says...
12:41am Sun 27 May 07

Once you've built the new butch fence you'll need a further fence on the inside to stop the kids knocking against the new fence and hurting themselves.

That could be worth a few thousand in compensation...

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