A Year 6 pupil spent the night locked in a coach after falling asleep on a school trip and was found the next day by the driver, a concerned parent has said.
An investigation is underway into how teachers failed to notice he was missing after the coach dropped the school party off at their hotel following an exhausting day out in London.
While the rest of the group and teachers got off the coach and spent the night in the hotel, the boy remained asleep in the locked vehicle in the car park until the morning.
It is believed that it was the coach driver who found the boy when they went to unlock the vehicle the next morning and it is not known what time this was or whether the child slept through the ordeal.
The headteacher of Broadstone Middle School in Poole, Dorset, has since apologised to the child's parents and has launched an investigation into how it happened.
Concerned parents have also been asked to attend a meeting at the school to discuss the matter. The incident happened on the second day of a three-day residential trip to London last week with a party of around 30 children, all aged between 10 and 11, staying at a hotel in northwest London.
On the day in question, the children visited Puddling Lane in the morning before walking along the Embankment to see The Shard. After that, they enjoyed a Thames cruise and then walked to Buckingham Palace before half went to the Science Museum and half went to the Houses of Parliament.
They met up for dinner at a Pizza Express before going to the Apollo Victoria theatre to watch the musical Wicked. They rest returned to their hotel after 11pm but the boy remained asleep and didn't get off along with everyone else.
Parents have expressed their anger and concern about what happened.
One mother, who had a child on the trip, said: "I believe they had quite a lot going on that day and understandably the children were really tired.
"They went to see Wicked and got back to the hotel quite late and the child had fallen asleep. The teachers must not have done a headcount getting off the coach, if they had they would have realised. They obviously didn't check the coach over either. The coach was then locked and left in the hotel car park.
"From what I have been told the coach driver had gone to unlock it the next morning and realised the child was still on it. I am really cross with the whole situation and quite hesitant about sending my daughter on any more residential trips with the school, which is a shame as I couldn't fault the school before this.
"This shouldn't have happened, it could have easily been avoided if they had headcount the children and checked the bedrooms.
"I can't understand why his friends didn't realise he wasn't in the bedroom either. Our children are precious and we should be able to feel at ease with responsible adults looking after them when they are not in our care, obviously that wasn't the case here."
Another parent said: "This is disgusting and should never have happened. I'd be furious if this was my child. You expect your children to be safe. If a parent did this, social services would be all over it."
A further agreed: "I understand accidents happen but I fail to understand how this happened in the first place. Why weren't the children headcount more than once? How did they not realise a missing child? Leaving a child for that amount of time is pure neglect and poor management."
One parent said: "It is a very unfortunate incident, which I'm sure the school will fully investigate. I'm sure all involved are mortified. Luckily the young person is okay. I can't talk more highly of the school."
Parents were told about the incident via a letter from executive headteacher Dawn Wilks. They have demanded external action following the incident on July 6.
Broadstone Middle School is part of the Castleman Academy Trust whose motto is 'Children First, Always.'
A spokesperson from the trust said: "Most regrettably, a child who fell asleep on the journey home was left sleeping on the locked coach in the hotel car park.
"We would seek to reassure everyone that the child is safe and well and, after speaking with their parents, was keen to continue on the trip, which returned safely on Friday evening. Despite robust risk assessments being in place, it is clear that a highly serious error occurred and we are now focused on undertaking a systematic and thorough investigation of the incident.
"We are working with the parents and staff involved to determine how this happened. We have informed all relevant authorities. We hope you understand that whilst this investigation is taking place, we cannot share specific information more widely, other than with those directly involved in the incident. They added further that details would be provided on actions taken to 'ensure this never happens again'."
A spokesperson for BCP Council said: "Broadstone Middle School is an Academy school, and as such independent from BCP Council. However, following this incident, our safeguarding in education team has offered support to the school."
