When children are at school the staff are responsible for ensuring that they stay safely on the premises. That duty of care applies to children of any age. It is particularly important, though, when they are as young as six, like Amelia Naylor.

It must be very worrying for the parents of other children at St Augustine's Primary School to have learned that Amelia walked off the premises - for the second time - and went home, and that when her mother phoned the school to tell them 45 minutes after her daughter should have started lessons, they were not aware that she was missing.

As Amelia's mother says, when your children are at school you expect them to be safe and not to be able to just walk out. The risks are enormous. Fortunately nothing happened to the little girl on her five-minute journey. Fortunately, too, her mother was at home when she got there. Many family homes are empty for much of the day, with parents at work. What would Amelia have done if this had been the case?

There appears to be a background issue of school bullying in this case, which must be investigated. Of even greater concern, though, is the poor supervision which allowed it to happen.

Amelia left the building via a fire door from the toilet area and walked away from it up its long driveway. The security procedure at St Augustine's clearly is inadequate and must be improved urgently. Although teachers have a very difficult job and can't be expected to have eyes in the back of their heads, a school must be aware at all times of the whereabouts of all the children in its care.