The dad left work to frantically search for his ‘missing’ son
A general exterior view of Winifred Holtby Academy in Bransholme, Hull(Image: Google Maps)
A Hull dad felt sick to his stomach when his son’s school messaged him at 9:30am to tell him he was not there. Staff at Winifred Holtby Academy allegedly advised the worried father of the Year 8 pupil to call the police, which he did.
Fearing the worst, he left work to search for his son with friends and family. The dad said he was in contact with staff at the Bransholme secondary school throughout that day, Tuesday, January 13.
At around 2:15pm, he said he was told there had been a mistake – his son had been in the isolation room the entire day, as planned in advance. The school apologised, but the dad said it was not enough and he was going to contact Ofsted.
He told Hull Live: “Basically, my son had been put in isolation for the week because he had been a bit of a bad lad. He left home in the morning, goes to school as normal, said, ‘Bye – love you dad,’ and all that.”
At 9:30am, just as he was leaving for work, the dad said he got a message from the school saying his son “hadn’t got his mark”. He said he tried to call, but could not get through, and so left a voicemail.
When he got a call back from staff at around 11:30am, he claims they said they had “searched the school and he was not there”. After this, the dad became deeply concerned.
“I’d left work, come back to Bransholme, searched all over with my family, my friends,” he said. “The school rang me back and said, ‘We advise you call the police because we have searched the school and everywhere.’
“I rang the police.” He said the police would file a missing person report if his son hadn’t been found by half past five that evening.
After spending the day searching and putting up social media posts with a description of his ‘missing’ son, the father said he was called again by the school at about 2:15pm.
“I answered the phone and they said, ‘Oh, we’re ever so sorry. He’s been at school all day.’
“Obviously, I have been worried sick, thinking the worst, looking in ditches, ponds, all sorts. So I just put the phone down. I went to the school and dragged him out the school.”
He said it was “disgraceful” and did not want his son to go back. He said he planned to contact Ofsted, the independent inspector of schools, about the incident.
“There are no words,” he added. “I need to find my lad a new school. I can’t trust my son to be at a school where they don’t even know his name or where he is.”
A spokesperson for Winifred Holtby Academy said: “The school has recognised that unfortunately an error was made and apologised directly to the parent for the understandable upset caused.”