Midlothian parents receive 'alarming' text after incident involving pupil near school

Parents at a Midlothian high school say they refused to let their children attend school after receiving an "alarming" text.

On Tuesday morning, November 26, parents at Penicuik High School received a text informing them of an "incident" and reminded pupils to return to school if they feel "threatened or unsafe."

A Midlothian Council spokesman has since confirmed a pupil was allegedly 'threatened' by someone from another school and instead of reporting the incident to staff, they left school.

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A number of parents contacted Edinburgh Live expressing concern after receiving the message, and said they were not letting their child attend school until they were reassured there was no harm to pupils.

One parent said "it's alarming to say the least" as they tried calling the office in the hope of receiving clarification, but were allegedly told no further information could be shared.

The parent said: "It’s alarming to say the least especially since they’re withholding information when it’s sounds to me and other parents I've spoken to that we should have been advised.

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"In my 17 years of being a parent I have never had an alarming text from the three schools my three children have and still attend. They have advised to to ring later.

"My child won’t be back until they inform us of what this alarming message is about."

The message from the school read: "Following an incident, we would like to remind all students to return to school if they feel threatened or unsafe. Please pass this on to your child."

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Another parent also called the school seeking answers and said they were reluctant to let their child attend school on Tuesday.

The council says it is updating parents on Tuesday with further guidance as to how pupils should respond if a similar incident was to occur on school grounds.

A Midlothian Council spokesman said: "The text was to remind pupils to return to school if they feel unsafe. It was sent after a boy was allegedly threatened on school grounds by another boy who was not one of our pupils.

"Instead of initially coming to staff to report the incident, the boy left school. We are updating parents today with further guidance as to what pupils should do if such incidences happen again."

A spokesperson for SGN said: "We’re carrying out urgent repairs to our gas network in South Grange Avenue, Prestonpans after a smell of gas was reported this morning.

"Our engineers are carrying out investigations in the area, and we’ve evacuated some properties, including St Gabriel’s primary school and nursery, to ensure everyone’s safety. The school moved pupils to St Gabriel’s RC Church Hall before contacting parents and carers to collect children from there.

"We’ve also partially closed South Grange Avenue to motorists around our site and local diversions are in place between Grange Road and Grange Grove, to allow us to safely locate the gas escape and repair the affected pipe.

"It’s too early to suggest how long the repair will take to complete, and when it might be safe for people to reoccupy the evacuated properties. We’re constantly monitoring the situation and working hard to identify the source of the leak and carry out the required repairs as soon as we can."