Pupils at a Worcestershire school suffered panic attacks and were left crying with fear after a role-play event in which one of their teachers was “shot dead” in the school playground.
The children aged between 10 and 13 were left traumatised by the stunt, which was part of a science lesson at Blackminster Middle School in Evesham.
They were not told it was a role-play until ten minutes after the event.
The exercise on Tuesday afternoon began when pupils were told there was a gun in the school. Five minutes later, the alarm bell sounded and more than 300 pupils were sent out into the playground where they saw three teachers running across the field.
They saw a “gunman” in the distance and heard what sounded like gunfire before seeing Mr Kent, a religious education teacher, fall to the ground. His colleagues then appeared to try to resuscitate him.
Parents claimed that the children were then sent back to their form rooms. Ten minutes later they were called into the assembly hall to see that Mr Kent was fit and healthy.
Some parents said that their children were so shaken by the exercise that they were sick in the toilets, suffered panic attacks, and were still feeling frightened when they got home from school.
One parent, who has a 11-year-old daughter at the school, said: “They thought their teacher had been shot. And all this time you have kids crying in fear because they were not told this was about to happen. It’s ten minutes later that they told the children that it wasn’t real, and that it was all a joke. I think its absolutely disgusting." Vikki Woosey, whose son is a Year 6 pupil at the school, said: “When I heard about it I just thought ‘Oh My God, that is so inappropriate’. It left some of the pupils terrified.”
Another parent said that the exercise was particularly inappropriate because the father of a pupil at the school had died in a shooting.
“One pupil’s father was shot dead a few years back and then they’re in the assembly hall calling this role-play a ‘joke’. Their wording, their timing, everything was out of order,” the parent said.
Terry Holland, the school’s head teacher, said: “The role-play was part of a science lesson where a selection of students and teachers acted out this scenario.
“The problem with a small minority of the pupils was that there was a slight delay in getting them back into the hall 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.”
In a letter to parents, the head teacher said: “We have reflected on the matter and now feel that the time delay was too long and pupils should have been reassured instantly to allay their concern.
“I wish to apologise for any upset the role-play may have caused. It was an original idea but one that went too far. Any role-play activities in the future will be based on themes that are less controversial and non-violent.”
