Safety issues force early end at Gloster Lodge Primary

Par­ents of stu­dents at­tend­ing Gloster Lodge Mora­vian Pri­ma­ry School in Bel­mont were called to col­lect their chil­dren around mid­day yes­ter­day, af­ter school of­fi­cials raised con­cerns about the con­di­tion of sev­er­al class­rooms on the com­pound.

A What­sApp mes­sage sent to Guardian Me­dia by a source at the school out­lined a num­ber of is­sues, in­clud­ing bro­ken class­room par­ti­tions that re­port­ed­ly wob­bled un­der slight pres­sure, ex­posed met­al strips with sharp edges, miss­ing light bulbs in one class­room, and a hole left be­hind by a met­al gate. Smoke and soot stains were al­so vis­i­ble along a stair­case wall.

When Guardian Me­dia vis­it­ed the school, stu­dents were seen wait­ing for par­ents to pick them up. A se­cu­ri­ty guard on du­ty con­firmed that class­es had been dis­missed ear­ly.