How common is it for children to escape from school?

[GiggleBoxx]

I've heard a few stories now of young children getting out of school and heading home.... just today a friends four year old tried to make a break for it.... dd starts school next sept, and it terrifies me a bit. I see the issue, unless schools are built like Fort Knox a wilful or determined child will be able to get out if they really wanted to. Just wandered how big a problem it actually is in reality, and what can schools do to stop it?

16 year teaching special needs and behavioural problems and I've seen it happen 5 times and they were really determined kids.

When I was at primary school (20plus years ago) a boy scaled the fence to get out. The same fence is still there as it's usually pretty secure. He just wanted to get out

My niece is definitely going to break out of school at some point if the teachers annoy her!

In my 12 years there have been about 5 escapees/absconders.

There was a repeated escapee at my school during infant years. Once got out through the loo window. That was now 40 years ago mind you

Blonde, "absconders" tickled me

The dc's still talk about the day one of the more challenging children jumped the fence at school. It's the one and only time I've heard about it at their school. I don't think it's very common at all.

Part of the problem is that fire safety reasons there always have to be fire doors leading out of a building. They can be alarmed but a determined child can be out of them and away so fast. Those with behavioural difficulties are normally watched and managed. The ones who can cause problems are those who have never caused a bit of bother and then one day decide to leg it.

I used to work in a primary school kitchen, many times me and other colleagues had to go and inform teachers that we had seen children passing the kitchen window and head towards the main gates which were never locked (teachers never realised children had made a run for it and despite complaints the gates still were never locked)

My brother walked out of school and came home when he was about 6. Our mum had left the front door open while she was chatting in a neighbour's flat (people did stuff like that in the 60s). When she came back in, there was my bro sitting on the sofa, playing with Lego.

She asked him what he was doing out of school "I was bored, so I came home", he replied.

He used to sleepwalk as well. All the doors had to be locked and bolted at night.

My son convinced his teacher that he didn't need to go to after-school club. The teacher released him. The after-school club manager was absolutely livid, he was supposed to be in her care. She told the school to inform me that he was missing. It took them over an hour to call me. It didn't stop them from calling singlepoint access to inform them that I didn't know my sons whereabouts and it was a safeguarding issue.

You couldn't just walk out of our primary but you could run out either through the main entrance door by the office or via the library fire door. Latter would be more problematic as you may not be seen. So a determined child could ask for the loo and then abscond, yes. Not sure what school xan do about it though - short of becoming a prison.

It happened pretty regular at my primary school. It had a huge tree in a hedge that had a hole by it and pupils just to get out there. They never did anything with the hole. It was a shit school though

The school has open grounds and doors, theoretically anyone can walk in or out at any given time, indeed the school hours are flexible and my D.C. Don't always start or end at the same times each day, so there's always an element of people coming and going

Same with DD's school (also not in UK) and there doesn't seem to be an issue of children escaping but I suspect that's because they are quite on top of behavioural problems, emotional issues, troubles at home and other things that are usually the reason children feel the need to run out. And there hasn't been a horrific event like Dunblane to make school security seem necessary.

Ds is an absconder at the grand age of 4, managed to get out of two key code doors, into the main school, then was stopped dead in his tracks by the remote accessed security door at reception, with his school you have to be keyed in and out by reception staff, all the nursery parents are known by name and they wont release kids into care of someone unknown without id being verified against a yellow colletion card, if your not on the card youre not getting the kid!

Think I better add another reason for children absconding - being of a young age and just wandering off because they're too young to realise why they need to stay inside the school.