A primary school in east London has instructed its students to remain indoors due to a buzzard engaging in dive-bombing behavior in its playground.
There are worries that the bird may be protecting its nest and could pose a threat to the children at Dame Tipping Primary School in Havering-atte-Bower, especially following reports of it swooping down on local residents.
Havering Council has stated that its health and safety team has offered “comprehensive guidance to the academy trust managing the school, including advice on the use of legal deterrents and other measures.”
Additionally, the council has proposed the idea of bringing in a falconry expert who might help to dissuade the bird of prey.
According to the RSPB, buzzards are the most frequently seen and widely distributed birds of prey in the UK, typically feeding on carrion.
The RSPCA has informed Havering Council that the buzzard might be safeguarding its nest or chicks.
The council acknowledged that, as buzzards are a protected species according to UK legislation, “options for intervention are severely restricted.”
They added: “We fully recognize the challenges and concerns this situation presents for the school and the surrounding community, and we regret that there is no quick or easy resolution.”
Headteacher Stella McCarthy shared with the BBC that she accepted “there was nothing we could do” about the buzzard’s presence, so instead, teachers are focusing on educating students about the bird.
“We turned it into a learning opportunity for the children,” Ms. McCarthy explained.
“The students named the bird Brenda and created posters to protect her and care for her… they’ve been writing stories, reports, and next week they’ll be working on newspaper articles and creating artwork.”
She mentioned that the school is making efforts to let children play outside whenever it’s feasible, regularly taking pupils to a nearby outdoor learning center.
“We needed to carefully assess the risks… it’s quite an unusual circumstance to conduct a risk assessment for a buzzard.
“We tried our closer playground areas with the belief that they would be safe, but we quickly realized that Brenda was quite attracted to children playing outside.”
