Heartless vandals on school wrecking spree

UPSET . . . pupils Noor Al-Haya (left) and Mohammed Ayaan with the vandalised chicken coop

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Vandals destroyed new learning equipment, smashed a chicken coop and ripped posters from walls during a devastating primary school break-in.

Staff at Greenacres Primary School arrived on Monday morning to find a trail of destruction in the early years playground with smashed vodka bottles strewn across the site, including in the children's sand pit. Outdoor furniture - including tables and chairs - had been punched or kicked through.

The school's shed has also been broken and the vandals even thumped a sign stating they were entering a school playground during the incident, which is thought to have occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Deputy headteacher Katie Thornton said: "The staff were distraught when they saw the damage.

"Everything outside had been destroyed. It was endless.

"It is so heartless for people to break in to a school and destroy so many things meant for children and their education."

Keen to ensure pupils would not be affected by the destruction, teachers worked quickly to clean up the damage and ensure the playground was safe for use.

"The children have noticed a few things are missing but otherwise we've managed to hide the vandalism from them," the deputy head added.

"They are going to be so sad about the chicken coop. It has only just been constructed and the pupils were excited about getting chickens in September.

"Unfortunately that won't be able to happen now.

"It was also a gift so we are unable to claim through insurance to replace it."

Other items destroyed in the attack at the Dunkerley Street school, were tubs of outdoor learning resources, such as numbers, letters and beanbags, all of which had been recently purchased.

Although the total cost of the damage still being counted, it is expected to run into several hundreds of pounds, if not more.

Mrs Thornton said: "We had just spent quite a large amount of money on the outdoor equipment which will now all have to be replaced.

"Education budgets are being reduced and money is tight, particularly for small primary schools.

"Teachers spend most of their lives getting the best learning opportunities and equipment for their pupils.

"For someone to come in and destroy it all is just so upsetting.

"It is heartbreaking to know we will have to start again but we have to carry on and that is what we will be doing."

The school, which has 248 pupils, is unsure why it was targeted by the vandals and is appealing for anyone who has any information about the incident to come forward.

Details have also been passed to police for investigation, who comfirmed they were called to the school at 7.15am on Monday to reports of damage to property.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101.