First the bomb threat hit Glasgow’s schools. Then it reached the parents

Dear readers — for some of Glasgow’s kids, the October holidays have been unexpectedly extended. That’s because on Monday, just over three quarters of the city’s schools (along with hundreds of others in Scotland and Northern Ireland) received an email warning that an explosive device had been secreted somewhere inside the building. Police assessed the threat and told city and education leaders they thought it was a hoax. Their advice was to continue as normal. Some schools followed that advice; others evacuated. Slowly, parents began to catch wind that something was going on. And that’s when the trouble really started. 

Two days later, amid rampant rumour and breathless updates, some parents are still resolutely keeping their children home, convinced it’s the only place they’ll be safe. We've exclusively analysed council data on where the biggest attendance drop offs were, and uncovered an interesting pattern. Read today’s report to find out more.

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It’s 8.09am in Shettleston and some children at Eastbank Academy are drifting through the gates to start their day. Others are making the morning pilgrimage across the road to John’s Cafe & Takeaway, for their breakfast rolls. So far, so normal. But conversations among the kids hint at the drama that’s enveloped Glasgow’s parents and pupils over the past 72 hours — and kickstarted an ongoing row about safety in schools. 

Two teenage girls saunter past, one with blue-dip-dyed hair and the other sipping from a can of Monster. “My mum said she wanted to keep me off,” says the shorter one, twirling her blue hair. She’s only in, she tells her friend, because her mum had to work.

“Mine’s said I had to come back today, but I can call her at any time and she’ll answer, she promises,” her friend replies.

They’re talking about the bomb threat. The email arrived on Monday morning, delivered to schools across Scotland and Northern Ireland, when many children were still on their October break. In Glasgow, however, it was the first day back for the city’s 192 schools — and 148 of them received the threat. 

The reaction was fragmented. Despite police advising schools to continue as normal, some — like Alexandra Parade Primary school — evacuated immediately; others briefly evacuated before resuming lessons; some took no action except to contact parents that afternoon and pass on what they had been told by Police Scotland: that the messages were “being treated as a hoax and officers are investigating".