Community rallies round Portsmouth school after vandals cause £20,000 worth of damage

Arundel Court Primary Academy was forced to temporarily close its nursery after vandals caused an estimated £20,000 worth of damage.

The school’s deputy headteacher, Anitha Venugopal, who founded the nursery said: ‘You just wouldn’t expect this is something anyone would do. When I arrived that morning the headteacher wouldn’t let me into the building. I built this nursery from scratch seven or eight years ago.

‘When I saw the room the first thing that came to mind was the children. We both just broke down and cried.’

Speaking to the popular BBC show’s presenter, Iwan Thomas, a tearful Anitha spoke about the mindless acts of destruction carried out by the perpetrators. Images of the nursery showed where paint had been sprayed across the room and over resources.

‘They have damaged the interactive whiteboard which the children use as a learning tool and all of our paints and art stock is completely gone. The cuddly toys and our speaking and language resources have all been destroyed,’ she commented.

The vandals also let off fire extinguishers which left the room contaminated.

However, in the face of adversity the local community have rallied round with donations of money, toys and learning materials. Following an appeal on social media a man, who wished to remain anonymous, donated £500 while a local parents group has set up a Go Fund Me page which has so far raised £3,665.

Anyone who would like to offer help to help replace the damaged items is asked to contact the school.