Arsonists burn down primary school's new outdoor classroom and play area

Trees were also damaged in the blaze at around 2am on Wednesday morning at St Nicholas Primary School in Portslade.

Firefighters from Hove spent an hour and a half at the scene at the back of the school in Locks Hill extinguishing the fire in the 10x10 metre space.

Police have said the fire was deliberately ignited, according to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

Headteacher Andy Richbell said school CCTV shows three people climbed over a wall into the school at about 10.30pm the night before to start the fire.

He said: “They attempted to set fire to the box of science equipment with lighters but could not get it to catch on the rest of the stage. They eventually left it smouldering. Long after they had left the smouldering wood finally burst into flame and quickly became a raging fire.”

He said the school was “obviously very upset” by the damage by “thoughtless individuals” to the new facility – which the Shoreham Port Authority helped to build.

He said some children were worried they may not be safe and did not know what happened and why so a special assembly was held.

He assured parents the children were safe and thanked them and staff for rallying round in the wake of the crime.

They school as already been approached by Gary Simmons from GCS Fencing and Landscaping, Skip-It and Parkers Building Suppliers in Hassocks to offer help, Mr Richbell said.

Class 4JH also wrote a letter to the arsonists:

To the person or people who came into our school grounds last night,

When we came to school this morning, we discovered that our outdoor classroom had been burned down and destroyed. There was nothing left but bits of wood and ashes.

We don’t understand why you wanted to do this. Were you angry with our school and wanted revenge? Was it the result of a dare from your friends?

Maybe you meant to start a small fire, but it got out of control. You may not realise this but you have made us feel sad because it was built by our parents and carers who gave up their own time and money to improve our school grounds.

We also feel afraid as our school is usually a very safe environment and now that has been threatened. Finally, we feel angry because an area of the school that was going to be active has been ruined for no good reason.

The damage you caused last night has affected our school in many ways. The outdoor classroom was part of our nature area, and this will have an impact on the animals and plants that live there.

Other areas near the outdoor classroom will not be safe to use until it has been carefully dealt with. Also, it had only recently been built and equipped, and now many children and clubs won’t ever have the chance to use it.

We as a school forgive you for doing this. We doubt you will come forward and admit that you caused the fire, however we would like you to think about your actions and not do anything like this again.

Maybe you could do something helpful elsewhere to make up for the effect that you’ve had on our community.

Yours faithfully,

 The family of St. Nicolas Primary School