But the teachers at Blackminster Middle School weren’t satisfied with a bit of police tape or an address to pupils – they wanted to get their inner De Niro on:
Schoolchildren were left in tears after their teacher was gunned down by a crazed hoodie in the playground - in a 'sick' role-playing stunt.Not wanting to be left out of the fun, the supporting cast was huge:
Terrified children - aged from 10 to 13 years old - watched as the supposed gunman strolled into the playground, took aim and shot the teacher, before running into the school's science lab.
Other staff in on the stunt rushed to the popular teacher's aid and appeared to give CPR in an attempt to save his life.Unsurprisingly, a lot of the kids were totally freaked out by this.
It was 10 minutes before the shocked pupils of Blackminster Middle School in Evesham, Worcestershire, were rounded up and taken into the school hall where teachers explained that the scenario had been mocked up as part of a forthcoming science lesson.A science lesson..?
The science of what, ‘Candid Camera’?
But pupils were left traumatised, with one having a panic attack and others being sick.Parents weren’t amused, as you’d expect.
Parents, with children at the school reacted angrily to the stunt and branded it 'inappropriate and beyond belief'.And the headteacher was immediately suspended and…
Oh, who am I kidding:
Headteacher Terry Holland said: 'The role play was part of a science lesson where a selection of students and teachers acted out this scenario.And, proving that Northumbria Police Deputy Chief Constable, Sue Sim doesn’t have a monopoly on crass statements:
'The problem with a small minority of the pupils was that there was a slight delay in getting them back into the hall to to explain what had just happened.
'Most of them already knew it was a spoof but a couple of them were upset and we have since spoken to them and their parents and apologised to them.
'It was one of the more popular teachers who played the victim, I don't think there would have been as much concern if it was one or two of the others.'/facepalm
Mrs Rigsby looks at the Ofsted report on this school, and suggests the inspectors might want to think again.
For a very amusing take on this, see Dungeekin.
It was one of the more popular teachers who played the victim, I don't think there would have been as much concern if it was one or two of the others
ReplyDeletePresumably Heath & Safety stepped in to prevent that, as the kids might have joined in?
My old home town in the news again for more bat-**** crazy I see...
ReplyDeleteStunningly inappropriate thing for the staff to do. One of the things that really gets me is I very much doubt they would have been out there giving CPR in a real incident, more likey hiding in the basement leaving the kids to fend for themselves given the tree-incident and other recent H&S stuff we've seen so much of.
The Shire, ummm I mean Worcestershire, has very low crime compared to most of the rest of the country, I guess they felt safe pulling this stunt as a result ... similar antics in a most UK cities and the kids would have been drawing their own weapons and joining in.
Still, in the scale of stupid, even by todays standards this is a clear 10/10.
Looking at this from another angle, is there not a serious danger that at least one of the pupils could have made a 999 call and provoked an armed police response?
ReplyDeleteIn fact I'm amazed that didn't happen.
That would have made things really interesting....
Blackminster is supposed to be one of the better schools in the area to go to, I know a couple who took their kid out of their local school to send her there. Perhaps I should ask them about it sometime.
ReplyDelete"Presumably Heath & Safety stepped in to prevent that, as the kids might have joined in?"
ReplyDeleteAnd they'd presumably have been better armed!
"Stunningly inappropriate thing for the staff to do. "
And yet they never seem to see it..
"...is there not a serious danger that at least one of the pupils could have made a 999 call and provoked an armed police response?"
Now, that would really have put the cat among the pigeons!
"Perhaps I should ask them about it sometime."
It would be interesting to know the real story, devoid of 'Daily Fail' hyperbole.
Julia, it's Mrs Rigby, not Rigsby.
ReplyDeleteThe only Rigsby I've ever come across was dear Leonard Rossiter in Rising Damp. I'm sure there are others, though probably they are not so funny...
Re the stunt, oddly out of sync with the usual 'mustn't even verge on upsetting our little charges must we?' approach, was my first thought. It's pretty amazing no-one blocked this, di the Head go along d'you think?