FROM OUR FRONT: Pupils make plea to community after school struck by crime

Pupils at a Boston school are so fed up with attacks by vandals they are calling on the community to help protect their premises.

The youngsters at St Nicholas CofE Primary School, in Woad Farm Road, have created posters and will be visiting residents asking them to contact police if they see anything suspicious at the school.

The governors at St Nicholas CofE Primary School say they have become increasingly concerned over the safety of the school grounds.

It follows a series of incidents which has seen windows and cameras damaged, buildings broken into 
and school equipment damaged.

The school says the police have been very supportive 
but their presence ‘can 
leave the children feeling worried’.

Year Four pupil Grace Pettigrew said the incidents had been ‘really upsetting’.

Fellow pupil Pheobe Smith said: “They don’t deserve to break it because it’s not their property - it’s not ours either it’s for the school.”

Year One teacher and school governor Rianna Hookes said: “We’re spending all this money to try and provide the best we can for the children for this to happen.”

She said: “As we are in a deprived area in Boston, we need our children to have as many learning opportunities outside of the classroom as they can but this cannot happen if they do not have the suitable and safe equipment. The school’s governors have been discussing the issue in their meetings and have already invested in more CCTV for the site.

Governor Pete Nodder said: “It’s a community school and the community should look after the school. If we can have a little help from the surrounding community and the parents it will help improve the safety of the school.”

Headteacher of St Nicholas CofE Primary School Sally Birks said: “It makes me feel sad that the things we put in place for the children and the way we create a fantastic learning environment is being damaged by people - presumably and hopefully not ex-students of our school. It makes everybody feel a bit unsafe really.”

She said the students going to the neighbouring properties to speak with residents was a ‘positive way’ to address the different issues.

In February The National Society Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools Report upgraded its view of the Woad Farm Road school to ‘outstanding’.