A SCHOOL was damaged by a small minority of students during a protest about the availability of toilets on Friday.

Great Sankey High School was one of a large number of schools across the country to be hit by student protests on Friday.

The school has confirmed minor damage was caused and some small number of students caused problems. It said it offered 'sincere regret' for the incident which was described by some as chaos, leaving some youngsters frightened.

A social media campaign gathered force with pupils angered by what they perceive as a lack of toilets and long queues during break times.

Some parents at the school, on Barrow Hall Lane, said children were put off using the toilets.

A letter sent to parents from the school, and seen by the Warrington Guardian, said there is one toilet for every 19 students - sufficient. And that before Friday, it had only received four letters or emails complaining about the situation.

The letter said students are allowed to leave lessons if necessary and said it will reiterate guidance to staff on Monday that children should be able to use the toilets when they need.

The letter added: "The protest came to a calm conclusion after approximately ten minutes, when the vast majority of students returned to lessons.

"We are extremely proud of those students who conducted themselves respectfully and peacefully.

"Unfortunately, a small number of students chose not to return to lessons and escalated their protest - refusing to follow the reasonable requests or instructions of staff at the school.

"Whilst we actively encourage our students to have a voice, and we listen carefully to any concerns that are raised, we are saddened that a small minority of students chose to use this as an excuse to be disrespectful to other members of our community.

"These students did cause some damage to the site and there were some minor injuries sustained by those students engaging in this activity, as well as some innocent bystanders.

"All parents of these students have been contacted and appropriate consequences have been issued. We can confirm that only a small group of students were sanctioned for refusing to follow instructions and disrupting the smooth running of the school and not for protesting.

"We have received a number of emails and messages of support and/or concern in relation to the events that took place on Friday and we would like to thank all those parents who have taken the time to contact us.

"Your views are important to us and we will take all necessary steps to alleviate any ongoing concerns you may have.

"We would like to express our sincere regret regarding the events that took place on Friday and to reassure parents and students that we do value their views and opinions and to reinforce the fact that any decision we take, has the interests of our students at heart, in particular their safety, and the quality of educational provision they experience."