Family's plea after autistic son escapes school

The family of a severely autistic boy who escaped from school for 25 minutes has urged people to be more aware of vulnerable people.

Jamie, 7, who is non-verbal and has epilepsy, scaled a tree before ending up in a park behind Brooke School in Rugby, Warwickshire, despite close supervision and security measures being in place.

"Please ask a question and make that phone call because a vulnerable person could be in severe danger, and it could save a life," his stepmother Carly said.

Headteacher Greg Williams said the school for children with special education needs "continually reviews" its procedures to "ensure the safety and welfare" of its pupils.

"Whilst we do not comment on matters relating to individual children, any issues identified are addressed and managed promptly and appropriately, in line with our safeguarding procedures," Williams added.

Both Jamie's mother Jade and Carly stressed that they did not blame the "incredible" school for what had happened on 8 October.

Jade explained her son, who was participating in forest play at the school, had scaled the tree and used his body weight on a branch to fall into the park which had access to main roads. Thankfully, Jade said, a woman who was in the park looking after her own child kept an eye on Jamie.

"What if there had been nobody in that park? There were so many ways this situation could have ended," she said.

"For some people 25 minutes might not sound like a long time, but for a non-speaking child who cannot tell a stranger his name, explain where he lives, or ask for help in the way other children might, it is an eternity."

Jamie's stepmother Carly said she could not fault Jamie's school "in any way", adding: "When Jamie got to the bottom of the tree, he would have been as fast as a squirrel up there."

Jade posted about her son's experience on Facebook and someone wrote they had seen Jamie in their garden and then watched him climb into a neighbouring garden.

"Jamie cannot tell me what happened, so I'm left trying to piece it together and think about what might have been," she said.

"I would like there to be better safeguarding regulations everywhere for not just vulnerable children but vulnerable adults too – and better education in mainstream schools."

The family hopes the incident will encourage greater public awareness of vulnerable children who may not be able to communicate.

"We want to raise awareness because Jamie looks physically okay, he can run, but people can't realise he can't talk and he has no sense of danger," Carly said.

Carly said that as a family they are on "constant high alert" looking after Jamie and "fully understand how hard it is to keep him safe".

"He will distract you and then he will run with no sense of danger so it is a daily struggle for us."

Jade told the BBC there urgently needs to be a conversation about safeguarding children who are at risk of wandering or absconding, both in specialist settings and in the wider community.

She questioned whether safe, secure location technology could be made available to families, as well as physical security reviewed at schools including potential escape routes identified, clear emergency procedures and ensuring staff can respond immediately.

"I would want to know that if he ever got out of sight again, there was another way to help find him quickly," Jade said.

"We should not have to wait for a child to be seriously injured or lose their life before we start asking these questions."

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