Boy, 4, allowed to leave school during lessons unchallenged and walk almost a mile home

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:56 AM on 16th October 2008

A boy of four was allowed to leave a primary school unchallenged during lessons and walk to his home three-quarters of a mile away, crossing busy road.

Tyler McGuire told his teacher he was going to the toilet then headed off on his own.

The youngster arrived home safely because his mother, Sara, has taught him to use a Pelican crossing on the busy main road.

Unchallenged: Tyler Roffey walked out of his primary school, opened a school gate and crossed a busy main road to walk home

Now Mrs McGuire is threatening to remove Tyler and his twin brother Leo from the nursery class at Ashleigh Primary School in Barnstaple, North Devon.

She was at home when Tyler walked in home but says he could have been left alone and vulnerable if she had not been there.

The 36-year-old is demanding better security at the school after going to check it and finding she was allowed to wander around its campus without anyone stopping her.

The school said it was shocked by the 'unfortunate incident' and had now installed a new, locked, gate.

Sara dropped Tyler and Leo at school in the morning and expected to pick him up at 3.15pm - but he turned up at the back door of their home at 1.45pm.

She said: 'I felt sick when I found out what had happened. He should not be able to get out of school that easily.

Road crossing: Tyler had to cross this road to make it home

'Luckily I was at home that day and Tyler is a sensible child, pressing the button at the road crossing and waiting for the green man but it could have been much worse.

'I took him straight back to class but the security just isn't good enough.

'I am seriously considering pulling Tyler and Leo out and moving them to a different school unless something is done.

'I went back to the school a couple of days later. I managed to get on to the school grounds, wander around the playground and school field near the nursery and no one asked who I was or why I was there.

'You expect your children to be safe at school. I could have been anyone.'

Mum Sara McGuire is considering removing Tyler and her other son Leo from the school

Head teacher Mark Henderson insisted that the safety of his pupils was paramount.

He said: 'This was a very unfortunate accident and we were shocked when we found out.

'Tyler had gone to the toilet and the staff noticed he was absent two minutes later and let me know straight away.

'Together we carried out a full search of the school within three minutes of him leaving the classroom.

'Schools are not prisons and if the security of children is too intense it would not be conducive to learning.

'Since the problem we have installed a new gate with a high latch, put a combination lock on our current gates and ordered new ones too.

'I have met Tyler's parents on two occasions since the incident and both times she said she felt reassured by the action taken by the school.

'She also commented on the nature of her son and that she had trouble at home keeping him in the house.'

'Security isn't good enough': Ashleigh Primary School in Barnstaple