Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Safety fears and frustration at lack of primary school fence

Dyce Primary School
Dyce Primary School

A vulnerable pupil, with special needs, managed to get out of an Aberdeen primary school this week, sparking anger at the council’s lack of action to erect a long-awaited fence.

The incident was not the first time a child has left the grounds of Dyce primary school and parents have expressed their concerns over the lack of security within the facility.

One said: “I’m really worried about the safety of my child at the school. You expect that, when you wave them off in the morning, they will be cared for and looked after.

“It’s shocking this happened – this is just an accident waiting to happen.

“The council really need to get on with the job and build our fence. I can’t believe it has taken so long.”

Work has yet to start on the construction of a fence around the school, despite a pledge by Aberdeen City Council last year, following a similar incident.

Noah Rae was a pupil at the Gordon Terrace School when he managed to walk to the shopping centre in Dyce nearly a mile away in June last year.

A spokeswoman for the parent council said: “We have been in talks with the council for some time now and are hoping the fence will be erected soon.”

Another parent yesterday voiced her frustration and said: “We’ve been trying to get this fence up for the last two years.

“We had the final plans presented at a parent council meeting this week and were told work is supposed to start within the month.

“We really need this fence up.”

The local authority recently awarded a £45,000 contract for the works to Fife-based James Strang Ltd.

A council spokesperson confirmed the fence would be erected by the end of October and said: “We can confirm a pupil did walk out the school at lunchtime yesterday.

“However, a teacher was behind him at all times and persuaded the pupil to return to school.

“The original specifications for the fence included the provision of a footpath around the external perimeter of the fence.

“However, when the specifications were costed, it became clear the cost of the project including the footpath would greatly exceed the available budget.

“Given the priority is to ensure the safety and security of children at the school, the decision was taken to proceed with installing the fence but not the footpath.”