A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy was found walking along a main road in Blaenavon after he was able to leave school on his own.
Natalie Woodward, 27, said she is relieved to have her son, Logan Griffiths, back home safe and well after another parent found him walking on his own in Abergavenny Road and took him to his grandmother’s business, Keepers Feeds, where he was heading.
Logan has been a pupil at Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School since it opened last year and his mother said he returned home crying, upset and scared on December 3 after he was found alone.
She said the school told her Logan was missing after a teaching assistant had seen his father, Jonathan Griffiths, in the school grounds, and let him go.
Miss Woodward, who is separated from Mr Griffiths, said he picks Logan up from school every day along with their daughter, Alisha, three, from the nursery within the school.
But by the time he had got Alisha and walked round to Logan’s class to collect him, he had gone.
When Mr Griffiths got to the class he was told Logan had already left. Miss Woodward said that when she was on the phone to the school the person she was speaking to knew nothing about Logan being missing and she could hear people saying in the background ‘What are we going to tell her?’ She said: “Logan crossed a couple of main roads on his own walking up to my mother’s business on Abergavenny Road.
“Luckily another parent who is a very good friend of mine was walking ahead and happened to spot him.
Anything could have happened to him. The worst thing is I put my trust in the school but I get the impression they are not too interested about it.
“I am so relieved someone found him. The things that run through your mind are awful. I feel he’s not even safe in school anymore. You think your kids are in good hands but they’re not.”
Head teacher at Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School Debbie Woodward said: “Pupil safety is paramount in this school and this type of incident is fortunately exceptionally rare in schools.
“No child should ever leave our school premises without permission or supervision and I have apologised to the parents. The school has started an internal investigation to establish how this happened and I have spoken to all staff to remind them to be ultra-vigilant.”
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