Rossendale headteacher in war hoax 'must go', say parents

Mike Richards stunned youngsters at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Bacup when he showed them footage of the Blitz and told them London was being bombed.

The children, some as young as five, were also told they would have to take in 'child evacuees' as they were led by their class teachers to a ground floor room designed to look like an air raid shelter.

As the children hid, 'bombs' in the form of fireworks were let off in the playground, reducing many to tears.

County council education bosses said that no action would be taken and the wartime simulation was ‘carried out with the best of intentions’.

Mr Richards has apologised to parents for the upset he caused.

But some children have been left ‘traumatised’, afraid to sleep and two children were too scared to go back to school, parents said.

Mum-of-five Ann Waine, 27, of Pennine Road, Bacup said: “This has really upset my kids.

"Their dad is about to go back to Afghanistan on his second tour of duty.

"I have always tried to keep things like this away from them including the news.

"That night they couldn’t sleep. I had to call him in the early hours just to reassure them he hadn’t been blown up.

“I should have been told about this. I think he should step down.”

Mum-of-three Amanda Watson, 29, from Bacup, said: “I think it's disgusting and I don’t think it should be allowed.

"My daughter was reduced to tears. Every time a plane goes over now my children think they are going to be bombed.”

Julie McCabe, 35, of Pennine Road, Bacup, said: “My nephew has been really traumatised by it all.

"He went into school the next day and he completely freaked out when the school mentioned their trip to Towneley Park Memorial Garden.

"His mum is having to keep him off school.”

Her husband Michael added: “My eldest wasn’t really too upset about the hoax but one of our friends is having to give sedatives to her son to get him to sleep.

"This is more than bringing history to life.”

But other parents backed the headteacher's attempts at bringing history to life.

Shelley Harris, 26, from Bacup, said: “I think it was a really good idea to try and bring history to life.

"It will definitely help the children to learn the topic.

"I really don’t think it's caused too much harm.”

Mum-of-three Suzanne Bailey added: “Its much better than when I was at school, it was a good idea.

"It's just a difficult subject.”

Mr Richards said he was ‘horrified’ that his pupils got upset by the event and he was just trying to create ‘empathy’ among his students.

He said: “A key part of the history national curriculum is to create empathy and this is what we were trying to do.

“I am truly sorry and horrified that any child was upset by the event.

“i think the children’s reaction shows the immense trust the children have in the school and the teachers.

“As soon as we realised we were upsetting the children we stopped. Our only aim was to excite them.”

Father John Flynn, from the Diocese of Salford said: “The project at St Mary's was well-intentioned but unfortunately caused a bit of upset among some of the pupils and their parents.

"Unfortunately, the laudable intentions to achieve that aim in this case were not properly thought out.”

County Councillor Susie Charles, Cabinet Member for Children and Schools, said: "While I am sorry to hear that some children were upset, I am assured that the head has explained to parents that things would be done differently in future.

"I know that our teachers do their best to make learning exciting and memorable for children and I am sure that this exercise was carried out with the best of intentions.

"Any action would be a matter for the school's governing body, but I can only hope that parents will keep a sense of proportion and that common sense prevails."

Rossendale MP Jake Berry said: "I sympathise with the children and their parents but teachers have a difficult job trying to engage pupils with British History.

"I am sure Mr Richards will learn by his mistake."