A mum and dad have spoken of their anger after their three-year-old son was allowed to wander out of nursery at a Bradford primary school.
Little Blake Ormondroyd was found in a snicket next to Westwood Park housing estate between ten and 15 minutes after walking out of Home Farm School, in Buttershaw.
Now, his parents Gregg Ormondroyd and Donna Rhodes have taken him out of the nursery and have vowed he won’t go back there.
“It is disgusting,” said Mr Ormondroyd. “We just cannot trust the nursery now. It is negligence. By the luck of God, he didn’t get run over.
“He is only small and has walked 500 or 600 yards to the top of the school drive.
“We don’t want it to happen to another child. We are so lucky – there could have been anyone on that snicket.”
Mr Ormondroyd said Blake followed other children and parents out of a door that was being held open by a relatively new member of staff.
“He still had his coat on after being outside,” said Mr Ormondroyd. “If he hadn’t still had it on, he might not have got out without it being questioned by staff.”
The school, which is on Home Farm Close, off Cooper Lane, says it has implemented “new processes” to reassure parents.
Headteacher John MacDonald said: “The safety of all children at Home Farm Primary School is of paramount importance to us.
“A child left the nursery while parents were collecting their children. As soon as staff realised, they brought the child back into school.
“We have now told parents of our new processes to assure them that this will not happen again.”
Mr Ormondroyd, who said his partner and Blake’s two older siblings had used the nursery in the past, claimed the drama unfolded when he went to pick up his son at about 11.40am on January 17.
After seeing two teachers running along the school drive, Mr Ormondroyd went into the nursery and was pulled to one side.
“I thought they had misplaced Blake’s birth certificate because I had taken it in that morning,” said Mr Ormondroyd.
But as he was taken into another room, Mr Ormondroyd asked where his son was.
“The woman said she didn’t know,” said Mr Ormondroyd. “I said ‘what do you mean?’.
“She looked out of the window and said he is walking in with two teachers. She said he had got out.”
Mr Ormondroyd, 27, of Horton Bank Top, said Blake had only been at the nursery for two weeks. He added: “He doesn’t want to go to school now. We ask him why and he says because he feels safer at home.”
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