Pranksters told to leave school early

A PRINCIPAL was forced to end the term early for 70 sixth-year students after a series of pranks at a Co Tipperary school left one student requiring medical treatment.

Principal Pat O’Toole took the drastic action after a series of incidents on Wednesday at St Mary’s School in Newport.

The disruption included the release of crickets during an assembly period and also resulted in a first-year student requiring medical treatment.

Mr O’Toole said he had made the decision to end the sixth-years’ time at school early on Wednesday rather than the following Monday evening on “health and safety” grounds. “There was a number of incidents which I found totally unacceptable,” he said.

“It was very regrettable that such drastic action had to be taken but the other pupils at the school had to be considered. “Some parents have been upset by the course of action but many understand that the curtailing of the school year for these pupils was the only sensible course of action open to me.”

The decision to the end the term early for sixth-years was the first time it had been felt necessary to take such action at St Mary’s, a co-educational Catholic school.

The incidents on Wednesday started with the release of crickets at morning assembly, which caused pandemonium among pupils.

Eggs and vegetables were later thrown in a number of incidents, with teachers said to have “lost control of the situation”.

During these incidents a first -year pupil received a facial injury which required medical treatment.

One parent said: “When pupils returned to the school on Thursday morning they were told they were not allowed on the school grounds; this is despite some of them having no involvement in the incidents the previous day.”

Although the sixth-year pupils were due to end their term on Monday, parents said they would have been expected to be allowed to utilise school facilities for study until the beginning of the Leaving Certificate exam on June 9.

A spokeswoman for the ASTI teachers’ union said that a “certain level of excitement” could be expected when students were coming to the end of their school life.

She added: “We would not comment on how any individual school deals with these situations, that is a matter for the management of that school.”