Mother’s fury as 5-year-old goes missing from school

A mother whose five-year-old son was left wandering St Paul’s after he went missing from his primary school without any teachers noticing says she feels let down by the entire education system.

Rico Sangha climbed over a small wall and pushed a button to open the gates of The Dolphin School in Cheltenham Road shortly after lunchtime on Tuesday.

According to his mother Monica, the young schoolboy wandered past St Paul’s nursery off Wilder Street before finding himself in a nearby park.

He eventually found his way to his grandparents’ home from where Monica was contacted.

She told Bristol24/7: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out. I was so angry. How could a young child be left to walk out of school like that with nobody noticing?”

She said she immediately called the school which was unaware that a pupil had gone missing.

“The main concern is that if I hadn’t called they would never have known. Anything could have happened.”

Monica, 28, said Rico was in tears in the evening after he went missing as he explained to her where he went. He also told her he was approached by a “stranger” in the park who shouted at him, she said.

“It was one of the hardest moments, listening to what had happened to him while trying to remain calm,” she added.

The school said it has launched an internal investigation and has already taken steps to improve security and safety for pupils.

“I’m angry more than anything,” Monica told Bristol24/7. “I’m so angry with the school and I’m adamant the teachers need to be fired. Had they noticed they could have just called me or the police and made them aware. 

“But they have let me down and let my son down. I have no faith left in the whole education system after what’s happened. The school needs to be punished for what has happened.”

Monica, who has taken her son out of school since the incident on Tuesday, first vented her anger on Facebook earlier in the week.

In the post to friends, the part-time student said: “It’s disgusting that my five-year-old boy left the Dolphin School yesterday afternoon and was gone for about an hour and nobody noticed.”

She added: “The thought of all the things that could have happened is sickening! He wasn’t even counted for after lunch the Friday before the incident and it was another class teacher that found Rico with a missing child from her class. This is unacceptable and a shock to the core!”

The Dolphin School is a primary academy run by the CGS Trust which operates a chain including Colston’s Girls’ School, Bannerman Road Community Academy, Barton Hill Academy, Fairlawn Primary School and The Kingfisher School.

The trust’s executive headteacher Paula Shore, who is also acting head teacher for The Dolphin School, said: “On Tuesday afternoon a child left The Dolphin School premises unsupervised. The child is safe and well.

“An internal investigation in underway to identify the issues that allowed this incident to occur. We have already put in place further risk assessments to ensure that our children are kept secure, including plans to upgrade the perimeter fencing as soon as possible.

“CGS Trust takes the safeguarding of children extremely seriously and policies are regularly reviewed to ensure that children are kept safe at all times.

“Alongside increased security, all staff will be required to attend additional safeguarding training, above and beyond the regulatory standards.”

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