A secondary school on the Isle of Wight has been forced to move PE lessons and increase security after reports of a suspicious individual near the school perimeter.
Lift Ryde has sent an urgent reassurance letter to families this evening (Thursday) confirming that Police are investigating reports of a member of the public acting suspiciously close to the school site.
Police said that they received 3 reports of a man acting suspiciously outside a premises on Pell Lane, Ryde between Wednesday 20th and Friday 22nd May.
Enquiries into the incidents are ongoing and no arrests have been made. Anyone with any information they believe may support our enquiries should contact 101, using reference 44260238868.
In response, the school said the incident is being treated extremely seriously and confirmed immediate safeguarding measures have now been introduced.
Among the steps taken are increased staff patrols around perimeter fences and school boundaries during the day, as well as at drop-off and pick-up times.
In a significant precautionary move, all PE lessons have also been relocated away from the perimeter while the situation is addressed.
The letter states the school is working closely with Police to investigate the report and ensure officers are fully aware of the concerns raised.
Parents have not been told exactly what behaviour was reported, when the incident happened, or whether the individual has been identified.
The school has urged anyone with information or concerns to get in touch.
no description – kinda tells its own story
Easy! Confront the individual, ask why they are in the area and tell them to p##s off.
If they proceed to “hang around”
Do whatever is necessary too make them shift!
Problem is, the law is such an arse now, that if someone told who ever it was to p**s off, they would get THEM arrested
Unfortunately its a public field i go to that school i have seen no dodgy people and since they can’t identify who it is the can’t approach him/her and my pe teachers are not allowed to do anything to the public this is why the police have got involved investigating who it is
The school should hire uniformed security like most schools on the mainland do. They’re a great visual deterrence for both criminal activity against students and bad behaviour by students. They’re medically trained to deal with almost anything. They’re fire marshal trained and they’re able to focus on emergencies when they arise as their sole responsibility. Teachers are stretched enough as it is, they should not have anything more loaded on them “with extra patrols around the site”. Let teachers do their job and hire security to do theirs.