Express & Star

Black Country pre-school closed after children ESCAPED through unlocked gate

Four young children managed to escape from a pre-school and head towards a busy road after leaving through a gate which supervisors assumed was locked.

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Little Legends Pre-School in Rowley Regis has now closed amid an investigation into how the children – all thought to be three years old – were allowed to get out.

One of the children was reportedly found in the middle of the busy Dudley Road, although bosses at the pre-school, which is based at the Surestart children's centre in Springfield, said it had not been confirmed that was the case.

Owner Matt Lee said he had taken the decision to close the pre-school temporarily following the lapse on Wednesday and that disciplinary action could follow.

He revealed staff who were on duty had believed the gate to be locked but had only looked at it rather than physically checking whether it opened or not.

Kerry Arrowsmith's son was one of the children who managed to get out. The 34-year-old said she was 'horrified' when she found out what happened and that her son, who is aged three, would not be going back to the pre-school.

She told the Express & Star: "One of the children was found on Dudley Road. A member of the public stopped their car and took him into the building.

"I was devastated. I didn't want him to go to nursery, you just hope something like this never happens.

"It's horrifying, I can't describe it. I don't know how they can't notice almost half their children going missing."

Mr Lee said the children were out of the pre-school for a 'very short time' and they had been in an outside play area before heading out of the gate. He said Ofsted had been notified about the incident.

He said: "An investigation is ongoing as to what happened and maybe disciplinary action will follow that. I have already met with Ofsted – we have got a number of things to review.

"I have taken the decision to keep the pre-school closed this week while we review policies and procedure. It will then be half-term and it gives us time to do a thorough review.

"What I can say is a staff member hasn't followed the policies and procedure and that's what we're investigating.

"It is believed staff did a visual check on the gate and thought it looked locked. They didn't physically test the gate by pushing it.

"Once the review is done we will go back to parents and talk to them about what went wrong and more importantly what can be done to make sure this never happens again."

This latest incident comes just two months after another young child escaped from a nursery in Oldbury.

Omari Faure-Johnson, who is three years old, scaled a six foot plastic and metal mesh fence outside Christchurch Primary School in Albert Street and wandered down the road. A passer-by saw him a few minutes later and took him back.

Staff, who were left stunned by his escape on a Friday afternoon in mid March, said he was missing for around four minutes.

The incident prompted an urgent safety review at the school and left the youngster's furious mother questioning how her son was allowed to get out unnoticed.

Following the incident, ward councillor Susan Downing called on the school to 'make it a priority' that the lapse could never happen again.

The councillor said: "Every parent likes to think their child is safe at school and rest assured school staff have child safety as a primary concern, as it is the most important thing in all of this."

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