Inquiry as girl, 12, gets lost on school outing

AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a 12-year-old girl with severe learning disabilities got lost on a school trip.

The girl, who has not been named, was on an outing with St Anne's Community Special School, from Welton, East Yorkshire, and was left on the bus when the party got off to visit a library.

She was later found by a member of the public 10 miles away at Hull's central bus station.

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The girl was taken to a British Transport Police office at the station, where officers informed colleagues at Humberside Police, although she had yet to be reported missing.

Half an hour later the force was able to confirm the girl matched a description on a missing person report.

She was then taken back to the school by transport police.

East Riding Council confirmed an investigation was under way. A spokesman said: "When returning from a visit to a local library, on a service bus, the child remained on the bus until it reached the terminus in Hull.

"An internal investigation has now been launched by the school, supported by the local authority.

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"Any action as a result of this investigation will be passed to the board of governors."

The spokesman said the girl was not harmed in any way but said the authority could not comment further about the incident.

The head teacher at St Anne's, Lesley Davis, said the school has apologised to the child's parents.

She said: "We apologised to the parents for any distress this incident may have caused and an investigation into the incident is under way."

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The school's website says "every person employed at St Anne's paid or voluntary, wherever they are, whoever they are with, whatever they are doing" has fundamental responsibilities, including keeping pupils safe and caring for pupils first.

Parents of children attending the 74-pupil school, which is for children aged between two and 16, said they had not been made aware of the incident.

One parent, who did not want to be named, said the school had been introducing children to bus travel to help them become more independent.

She said: "This only started in September. We got paperwork to apply for a concessionary bus pass for my son to go on public transport to learn how to become more independent.

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"They will show them how to use the bus. The children also have a library ticket so they can use the library. They are learning everyday skills."

The mother, who has helped on school outings in the past, said parents had not been informed about a child being left on the bus.

She said: "My son might have been there on that day but I have not been told about this. If this happened it would have been a one-off.

"They would genuinely have thought they had got all the children off the bus, they would have been absolutely mortified."

The woman said she had every confidence in the school.

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She added: "It's damned hard work and I don't know how they do it. I have nothing but praise for them. What happened that day doesn't happen every day, every week or every month. I can't knock the school."

St Anne's was rated "good" overall at its last inspection by education watchdog Ofsted, and "outstanding" for keeping children safe.

The report, which followed an inspection in June this year, said: "Excellent measures are in place to promote safety and welfare for children and young people in all aspects of their care and experiences.

"Considerable effort has taken place to liaise closely with the local authority and review the safeguarding procedures.

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"This results in clear and accountable systems which are clearly understood by staff."

All pupils at the school have special educational needs and severe learning difficulties, or profound and multiple learning difficulties.