Children evacuated from school after pupil brings explosive to show-and-tell

A show-and-tell event at a junior school in Hampshire ended in disaster when a child brought in a historic explosive device.

Orchard Junior School in Dibden Purlieu was evacuated this afternoon at 1.30pm after the item was shown to the class.

A police spokesman said: ‘The school was calmly evacuated and a disposal team attended to take the item away to be destroyed as a precaution.’

To make sure parents were aware of the situation, an email was sent out that described the object as a ‘historic incendiary device’.

But a more ominous text sent to parents read: ‘Schools are being closed & evacuated – please collect your child from Noadswood field ASAP.’

One of those was mum Laura Holloway, who has a child at the school, and was left frightened by the sudden announcement.

She said: ‘It was so worrying.’

During her 20-minute drive to the school, she described feeling ‘shaken’ and like her brain was in ‘overdrive’.

She added to the Southern Daily Echo: ‘Another parent had called saying there were police everywhere. I knew my youngest would have been so scared.’

Laura did say that staff members dealt with the situation well and ensured pupils were lined up safely outside the school.

Other parents who have children at the school said their children were left in tears when they went to pick them up.

A spokesperson for the school said: ‘The police attended the school today after a possible unexploded ordnance was brought into school for the purposes of show and tell.

‘All necessary processes were followed by the school in relation to this matter, and the safety of all pupils and staff was maintained throughout.

‘The device has since been removed from the school site.’

The police said: ‘We were called at about 1.30pm to a report that a child had brought what may have been a potentially unexploded ordnance to Orchard Junior School.

‘The school was calmly evacuated and a disposal team attended to take the item away to be destroyed as a precaution.’

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