A man has blasted a primary school in killingworth in North Tyneside, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, for allowing his four-year-old daughter to leave all by herself and allegedly showing "no remorse" after he approached them about the matter.
Murtaza Ahsan Kamal, 42, claimed that on November 18, his daughter Elayna was supposed to go to an after-school club but left the premises of Westmoor Primary School unattended, it was reported.
The child, who was roaming outside of the grounds, was spotted by a concerned woman who turned out to be Elayna's childminder, Chronicle Live reported.
According to Elayna, the woman took her back to the school.
The school has reportedly taken "immediate action to strengthen safeguarding measures" and also apologised to the family.
But Kamal, a resident of Palmersville and a commercial lawyer by profession, was little convinced.
"This is absolutely outrageous. They put my daughter in the maximum position of risk. Anything could have happened. I feel lucky that my daughter came back," he was quoted as saying by Chronicle Live.
"Luckily the person who found my daughter knew us. I feel thankful that, even though I wasn't there, that woman brought my daughter back," the man, who has another child, added.
Kamal also alleged that the school authorities were not taking the matter seriously even after he approached it.
He said he contacted North Tyneside Council and the social services department about the incident.
"Nothing has been done, absolutely nothing," Kamal said.
He added that when he went to the head teacher and asked her about the matter, the latter "cheerfully touched" his shoulder and asked him not to worry. He said she showed no sign of remorse or apology.
"I don't even feel one single person is actually ready to identify the problem and accept that this has been an extremely serious mistake. There was no alarm and no alert that that child was missing," Kamal said.
"My daughter, who was four-and-a-half years old, was left unsupervised - she was gone."
Kamal also said the school had little idea about the childminder who brought his daughter safely back to the school. He also added that it was a staff member of the school who informed his wife about the incident.
"They told my wife that Elayna was missing, she'd left the school and then she was brought back so she's safe. I was angry, upset and frustrated, this is something which I have never felt in my life."
The man said that his daughter was questioned by a teacher about the incident and that she is unwilling to return to the school.
"My four-year-old was asked why did she do it. She was told off by the teacher. She doesn't want to go back to school. I have got to give her reassurance that I'm not going to let anything happen," the upset father said.
Westmoor Primary School, meanwhile, said they have probed the incident and are taking it "extremely seriously".
Sharon Trundley, the school's head teacher, said safeguarding is their priority and the school has policies and procedures in place to ensure that the pupils are safe.
She said, "We have conducted a thorough investigation into an incident at our out of school club and have taken immediate action to strengthen our safeguarding measures to ensure this does not happen again. These measures include reviewing and amending our existing processes for safe and effective passage of children to and from out of school club.
"We have taken this incident extremely seriously. We have apologised to the pupils’ parents, and provided reassurance that both our school, and the out of school club service, are a place where children are safe, supported and protected."
Julie Firth, director of children’s services at North Tyneside Council, said, "Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is always a school’s main concern. We have provided advice to the school, and we are satisfied with the action they have taken and the measures they have put in place."
Zia Yusuf
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