Express & Star

Facebook fight rumours see Deansfield pupils miss school

Worried parents took their children out of classes at a Wolverhampton school after a social media rumour claimed violence would erupt at the end of the day.

Published

Around 12 children were removed from Deansfield Community School by their parents.

Rumours of a fight had been posted on social media site Facebook and spread on Twitter but school bosses today said the claims were found to be unsubstantiated.

School chiefs became aware of the rumours and sent text messages to parents to reassure them everything was fine.

But a number of parents still attended the Deans Road school in East Park to collect their children.

In a bid to prevent any trouble police were called to school and carried out patrols outside the building.

Dean Coombes, headteacher of the school, said: "A post appeared on a social media site that suggested there would be trouble at the end of the school day.

"We looked into this and found no evidence to suggest this was anything but an unsubstantiated rumour.

"Text messages were sent to all parents to reassure them that there was nothing to be concerned about."

He said police were called 'as a matter of course' and they attended at the end of the school day as a precaution.

"There were no disturbances at all and children were able to go home safely as normal.

"Unfortunately, around 12 children were taken out of school at lunchtime by parents who had seen the rumours on social media."

West Midlands Police spokesman Billy Corrigan said: "We received a call at 12.39pm from a member of staff at the school. There was some concern that a fight may take place later that day.

"Officers attended and there was no incident. They were outside the school at 3.20pm."

The fake message, believed to have been posted on Facebook, claimed there had been a fight in the school and as a result people armed with knives were expected to descend after lessons finished. The fight claims are rejected by the school.

Deansfield School is one of a number of facilities in the city that is being modernised under the £270 million Building Schools For The Future Grant.

In September it was cleared of any wrongdoing by Wolverhampton City Council and examination body Edexcel following claims of cheating during this year's GCSE examinations.

It was awarded a rating of 'outstanding' by Ofsted inspectors in 2011 after GCSE pass rates leapt from 25 per cent in 2008 to 51 per cent.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.