Hartlepool school's appeal to community after vandal attack

It follows a recent incident when youngsters clambered onto the roof of West View Primary School, in Davison Drive, Hartlepool, and smashed a number of tiles, causing around £1,000 of damage.

There was also some damage to the outdoor nursery area with equipment strewn around.

The school has labelled the vandalism in essence as “an attack on the children” as money will have to be diverted from education purposes to pay for repairs.

It is the latest in a series of vandalism attacks on the school in recent years, which has cost the school at least £10,000.

West View Primary School is one of eight primary school under the umbrella of Ad Astra Academy Trust.

Trust chief executive Andy Brown, who is also a former headteacher at West View, said: “The ongoing vandalism at the school is extremely disappointing.

“All of our schools are under financial pressures and this is being being exacerbated by rising energy costs.

"So we are appealing to the local community to work with us to help bring the vandalism to a halt.

“If anyone sees anything untoward on the school site, we urge them to get in touch with the police or the school.

"We also appeal to parents to be extra vigilant so that they know where their children are at what they are doing when not at home.”

The school has CCTV footage of the latest incident which has been passed on to the police to help catch the perpetrators.

All of the vandalism incidents have taken place outside of normal school hours.

West View headteacher Lauren Furness added: “It is heart-breaking to see the vandalism and it must be stopped.

“In essence, this is an attack on the children of our school, because we are having to divert resources away from education to constantly carry out repairs to the school.

“The school building is surrounded by a perimeter fence, and we have CCTV, but we are looking to step up security.”

Ad Astra Academy Trust’s schools also include Hartlepool’s Barnard Grove, Brougham and West Park primaries.