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A father has been banned from his son's primary school for six months after an angry outburst caused the site to go into lockdown and police to be called.
Mark Holt apologised for his behaviour at Townfield Primary School in Prenton on June 24, where he was witnessed shouting to see the school's headteacher and knocking on an office window during school pick up, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The incident was due to the school announcing changes to Year 5 and 6 classes. Some of the children were reportedly told before their parents, leading to many tearful eyes, which included Mr Holt's son, who has anxiety.
The school is planning to mix Year 5 and 6 classes together, moving away from single-year classes. But the reason is out of the school's hands. The Rainbow Education Trust, which runs the primary school, says this is because of falling birth rates and is becoming increasingly common in primary education.
Birth rates in the UK fell to a 40-year low in 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics. So presumably, classes were mixed to make up for a fall in students.
Mr Holt said in a statement: "All the children came out of class, visibly distraught, crying and upset. My son burst out crying, which obviously got my back up. He has issues with anxiety."
He explained that he went to the office requesting to speak to headteacher Alison Durham, but was told she was in a meeting, although he could see her through the window.
"After being told I couldn't speak to her I started to shout her name a number of times. I knocked on the window to get her attention. My behaviour did escalate, but I wasn't making any threats, I was just shouting her name," Holt said.
Despite his strong feelings, Mr Holt has reflected on his actions and called his behaviour "inappropriate and unacceptable", adding: "To anyone affected by that, I sincerely apologise. But that came off the back of years of frustrations and poor communications."
The father believes the changes will affect his son, who struggles with change and has grown close to two teachers.
He has now been banned from the school. He cannot drop off or pick up his son, attend any school events, or attend parents' evening.
Many parents reportedly shared his frustrations.
Merseyside Police said it attended the school at 3:30 pm following Mr Holt's behaviour. The school was briefly locked down, and officers later went to Mr Holt's home where "appropriate action was taken". There is no word on if the school will lift the ban.
