BARNSLEY Academy will open as normal today following yesterday’s incident.
The Kendray school, part of the United Learning academy trust, kept pupils later than regular home time while the fire service carried out an investigation, after pupils felt unwell in a science laboratory.
In a statement issued yesterday evening, school principal Stephen Dixon said: “As you may know, this afternoon we called the emergency services as a precautionary measure after a number of children felt unwell in a science laboratory.
“The fire and other services take any such potential incident very seriously and we are grateful to them for their assistance.
“After fully checking the children concerned and conducting a thorough investigation across the school, they were satisfied that everything was fine and students were allowed to go home.
“Throughout this process, the behaviour of our students was exemplary and they were a credit to the school and their families.
“Whilst incidents such as this have the potential to be very serious and alarming, everyone remained totally calm and the school continued as normal.
“At the request of the fire service, who take charge in these incidents, we kept younger students in school beyond their normal time to ensure that no-one left the site until everything had been fully investigated.
“I would like to thank parents for their understanding and assistance with this. We will always take the appropriate precautions in the interests of our students’ wellbeing and will always follow the exact guidance of the emergency services.
“Thankfully the students who had felt unwell had recovered by later this afternoon and the emergency services are clear that we acted totally appropriately by calling them in.”
