Serpo
12th October 2011, 04:17 PM
I'm not staying here!' Adventurous Alfie, 3, flees first day of nursery and walks home to his mother
Youngster scaled 3ft wall and crossed busy road
Teachers didn't even realise he was missing
Mother: 'You trust these people to look after your children and then something like this happens'
By Simon Tomlinson
Last updated at 3:56 PM on 12th October 2011
She had only just dropped him off for his first day of nursery.
So when Samantha Aldridge answered the front door less than two hours later to find her three-year-old son standing there alone, she was understandably shocked.
To get there, adventurous Alfie had managed to give his teachers the slip, scaled a 3ft-high wall, crossed a busy main road and navigated several streets.
Break-out: Alfie Aldridge retraces his perilous escape route after giving his teachers the slip at Knollmead Primary School's nursery
Amazingly, when Samantha returned him to the nursery, staff did not even realise he was missing.
Mother-of-two Samantha, 27, said: 'When I opened the door and saw Alfie standing there, I didn't know what to think. A wave of emotion came over me.
'I was shocked that he was there. I was happy and relieved that he was OK, but I was also angry and upset that staff at the nursery had let this happen.
'Thankfully I was home to answer the door.
'It makes me feel sick to think of what could have happened. It's a terrible thing for a mother to go through.
'You trust these people to look after your children and then something like this happens.'
Samantha and husband Gareth, 32, from Surbiton, Surrey, had proudly dropped Alfie off for his first day at nearby Knollmead Primary School on September 12.
Safe in his mother's arms: Samantha can afford a smile now, but she was horrified to find Alfie on her doorstep after he walked home alone
The blond youngster was attending the adjoining nursery on the school's grounds, which are 300 yards from his front door.
After dropping him off at the school gates, Samantha felt reassured when she received a phone call from the nursery 40 minutes later confirming he was doing fine.
But just 45 minutes later, Alfie knocked at her door.
He had clambered over a wall to get out of school, before walking across a playground and past six classroom windows without being noticed.
The ten-minute walk home also meant Alfie crossing a busy main road and strolling alongside another.
Eileen Bone, headteacher at Knoll Mead Primary school, said: 'The school would like to apologise for the incident and assure parents measures we have taken will ensure their children can enjoy their education in the safe and protective environment that they rightly expect.'
Alfie's mother, who also has a daughter Lexi, two, has now enrolled her son at a new nursery school - after checking it first for safety and security.
Now he is well fenced in
Scene of the escape: Alfie's former nursery was on the grounds of Knollmead
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048082/Im-staying-Three-year-old-flees-day-nursery-walks-home-mum.html
Youngster scaled 3ft wall and crossed busy road
Teachers didn't even realise he was missing
Mother: 'You trust these people to look after your children and then something like this happens'
By Simon Tomlinson
Last updated at 3:56 PM on 12th October 2011
She had only just dropped him off for his first day of nursery.
So when Samantha Aldridge answered the front door less than two hours later to find her three-year-old son standing there alone, she was understandably shocked.
To get there, adventurous Alfie had managed to give his teachers the slip, scaled a 3ft-high wall, crossed a busy main road and navigated several streets.
Break-out: Alfie Aldridge retraces his perilous escape route after giving his teachers the slip at Knollmead Primary School's nursery
Amazingly, when Samantha returned him to the nursery, staff did not even realise he was missing.
Mother-of-two Samantha, 27, said: 'When I opened the door and saw Alfie standing there, I didn't know what to think. A wave of emotion came over me.
'I was shocked that he was there. I was happy and relieved that he was OK, but I was also angry and upset that staff at the nursery had let this happen.
'Thankfully I was home to answer the door.
'It makes me feel sick to think of what could have happened. It's a terrible thing for a mother to go through.
'You trust these people to look after your children and then something like this happens.'
Samantha and husband Gareth, 32, from Surbiton, Surrey, had proudly dropped Alfie off for his first day at nearby Knollmead Primary School on September 12.
Safe in his mother's arms: Samantha can afford a smile now, but she was horrified to find Alfie on her doorstep after he walked home alone
The blond youngster was attending the adjoining nursery on the school's grounds, which are 300 yards from his front door.
After dropping him off at the school gates, Samantha felt reassured when she received a phone call from the nursery 40 minutes later confirming he was doing fine.
But just 45 minutes later, Alfie knocked at her door.
He had clambered over a wall to get out of school, before walking across a playground and past six classroom windows without being noticed.
The ten-minute walk home also meant Alfie crossing a busy main road and strolling alongside another.
Eileen Bone, headteacher at Knoll Mead Primary school, said: 'The school would like to apologise for the incident and assure parents measures we have taken will ensure their children can enjoy their education in the safe and protective environment that they rightly expect.'
Alfie's mother, who also has a daughter Lexi, two, has now enrolled her son at a new nursery school - after checking it first for safety and security.
Now he is well fenced in
Scene of the escape: Alfie's former nursery was on the grounds of Knollmead
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048082/Im-staying-Three-year-old-flees-day-nursery-walks-home-mum.html