Police believe an online threat that caused panic across Cambridgeshire schools, including Impington Village College was a hoax. It has since emerged that Peterborough City Council contacted headteachers about a message reaching schools in another part of the country on Tuesday afternoon, and this attracted a lot of attention overnight.
An e-cops email from Cambridgeshire Police explained: “There was no evidence to suggest that Cambridgeshire schools might be at risk, but the message was shared for awareness and to remind them of the need for good safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of pupils.
“Understandably, overnight this has attracted a lot of interest and concern from parents as a result of the message to schools being shared wider. However, we would like to reassure the public that this message is believed to be a hoax. At this time, there is no specific identified threat to schools within Cambridgeshire and we are not aware of any of our schools having received the email in question.”
‘Security Awareness‘
Parents of pupils at IVC were sent an email update on Wednesday in which a spokesperson for the Eastern Learning Alliance, the Trust that runs the school, sought to reassure parents and pupils, saying: “Please be reassured that we have robust lockdown procedures in place across all our schools, and this morning, we have worked closely with our Heads of School to ensure that all necessary preparations are in place should they be required”.
They continued: “While there is no immediate cause for concern, we ask for your support in remaining alert. If you receive any similar communication directly, please report it to the police immediately by calling 999 before informing your Head of School.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority, and we will continue to work closely with the police and relevant authorities”.