CHAOS on the first day at a Lundwood school since lockdown began has left one parent in two minds as to whether or not to let her son return.

Kirsty Garland, of Lundwood, whose son eight-year-old Arlie-Jo Furniss has learning difficulties, has been left scared to send her son back to Littleworth Grange Academy after the commotion on the first day.

She told the Chronicle: “Reception is usually quite quiet when we go in and so we tend to go in so we can get him in to school for 8.35am.

“However when we went this time there were around 50 people waiting in reception, kids were upset and crying and I could only see one adult in the whole place with a face mask on - there was absolutely no social distancing in place at all.

“We had to walk onto the road to manage to get into school and even when we did get there he didn’t manage to get back into school until 8.55am, twenty minutes after he should be there.”

Kirsty admits that she is scared to send her son back to school because of Wednesday’s incident, which saw her usually hyperactive son on the verge of tears.

“He was so distressed, I genuinely thought that he was going to cry when he was in there,” she added.

“Normally he’s quite hyperactive and we’re trying to get him diagnosed with ADHD, he has learning difficulties but he was just stood there completely still - you could see the shock on his face.

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“It was absolutely awful, I don’t want to send him back at all.”

A spokesperson for Littleworth Grange said: “We were delighted to welcome the children back today, for what was always going to be a difficult day.

“Our procedure for dropping children off for the start of the school day was the same as that in place in June, when things passed very smoothly.

“However today there were some issues, which we will learn from as we evaluate how today went and as we will continue to evaluate during this reopening period.

“Obviously, today was an anxious time for everyone, the staff, children and wider community.

“We are aware that it is going to take time for us all to adapt to the processes in place for the new academic year, but it is important that we all work together and that parents bring their children to school at their allocated time, to ensure we continue to keep children safe and in the classroom.”