Northampton primary school vandalised over Bank Holiday weekend

The break-in at Woodvale Primary Academy, part of Greenwood Academies Trust, was discovered by the caretaker in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

As a result, the forest school, which was started five years ago following a £1,000 grant to Woodvale through the Tesco Bags for Life scheme, will need to be completely rebuilt, and the pond needs to be re-lined and drained.

The school’s mechanical gates as well as the windows in the reception area also need to be repaired.

The forest school, which is overseen by member of staff Nicola McKenna, is open to all pupils through the day and was used for after-school classes for 15 children at a time, ranging from those in Reception to Year 6. Activities include wood craft, creativity and fire skills.

Ms McKenna had used many of her own personal items to create the natural space for her pupils to learn in.

The forest school had been built from pallets, cable drums, willow dens, greenhouses, mud kitchens with additional items such as pots, pans and cutlery.

Mrs McKenna, forest school lead and early years practitioner at Woodvale Primary Academy, said: “I am deeply upset by this. Our pupils had helped make this a really unique space which they loved exploring and playing in, and I'm devastated for them.

"Many years of hard work building this space has been destroyed in a few minutes of senseless vandalism. It is a really sad day.”

Despite the disruption, the school will still safely be welcoming students back on Thursday to resume lessons following months of preparation.

Matthew Reetz, principal of Woodvale Primary Academy, said: “It is unbelievable to us that anyone would do this to our school – we are appalled by the mindless damage that has been inflicted upon our property and most importantly the beautiful forest school that our pupils loved.

“We are grateful for the support we have received so far from the community and we are now looking at ways to rectify the damage as soon as we can.”

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police has said the force recieved reports of a group of young boys on the roof of the school at about 8.30pm on August 31.

Police were deployed to the school and conducted a search around the premises but nobody could be seen inside and nothing appeared to be stolen.

If anyone saw anything suspicious or has any further information, they should contact Northamptonshire Police by calling 101.