Principal praises ‘efficient’ response after bomb hoax at school

The principal of a school hit by a bomb hoax earlier this week has praised its “efficient” response to the incident.

It comes after hundreds of students lost a day at Lynn’s King Edward VII (KES) Academy as they were evacuated following the threat earlier this week.

Youngsters were sent home early on Tuesday morning, after receiving a threatening email, but luckily no GCSE or A-level exams were being held on the day.

Police were called to the scene to investigate what had been deemed a “low risk threat”, with it later being confirmed as a hoax.

Sarah Hartshorn, principal at KES, said the school had an “efficient” response to the incident.

“Thanks to our business continuity plan, the evacuation surrounding the bomb threat hoax was extremely efficient,” she said.

“Our pupils and staff follow strong routines day in and day out, which meant everyone was well-equipped to deal with the matter in a timely and responsible fashion, putting everyone’s safety first.

“We are pleased to note that no public exams were impacted and we want to say a big thank you to all of our pupils, parents and staff who all acted calmly and professionally under the circumstances.

“We must also say a special thanks to King’s Lynn Academy who supported us throughout the day too.”

After the email was received, officers said they were working with staff at the Gaywood Road school, while students who did not live in close proximity to the building were being supervised until they could be collected.

Ms Hartshorn said, in a statement on Tuesday: “As always, our top priority is the safety of our pupils, staff and parents, which is why, despite the police confirming the threat is low risk, we have taken their advice to send everyone home from school today.

“We are continuing to work with the police to investigate this further and will provide updates as and when we have them.”

An email sent to parents and carers earlier on the morning added that “currently all pupils that are local to school and can get home safely have been asked to do so.

“Where students are unable to do this at the current time, we will provide supervision until they can be safely collected, or we have a credible text message from parents to confirm that they can leave.”

Police later confirmed on Tuesday morning that the bomb threat was a hoax, and it said enquiries to identify those behind it were ongoing.

They say that there was “no credible information at this time to say that this was anything other than a hoax”.

Yesterday, officers said enquiries were still continuing.

Police would like to speak to anyone with any information relating to the threat, or anybody who believes they may know who was involved.

Witnesses have been asked to contact Norfolk Constabulary on 101, quoting CAD 98 of June 27, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.