ARRIVING at Ridgeway School to deliver a letter to the headmaster, I expected to be greeted by something resembling Fort Knox.

The CCTV cameras peering down at me as I wandered around the car park seemed to indicate that any unannounced visitor to the school would quickly be challenged.

Noticing a door on the car park side of the school that seemed to lead into a kitchen I decided to give it a try.

To my surprise the door swung open and I walked into the deserted kitchen.

While looking for the main entrance to the school, I bumped into a kitchen worker, giving both of us quite a fright.

"Erm. headmaster's office?" I asked.

Without speaking the lady pushed opened what I had presumed to be a cupboard door and ushered me through.

I found myself in the middle of a sports class being conducted in what appeared to be the school's dining hall.

Unchallenged by the teacher taking the lesson, I was able to stroll through while filming on my mobile phone.

Setting off in search of the headmaster's office I walked across a courtyard into another part of the school.

Peering into classrooms, at one point holding my camera phone up to the window of a computer class, I was sure that my identity would rapidly be questioned.

Instead I continued to roam the corridors, passing a number of students. I noticed that at the foot of one set of stairs an emergency door was open...open to anyone.

It had now been at least five minutes since I entered the school and still no-one had asked me who I was.

I asked for directions from one student who did question whether I was a visitor but made no attempt to alert a teacher.

Seeing an empty classroom I checked to see if the door was locked. It wasn't and I was able to sit down and make a phone call in what appeared to be a science lab.

Continuing on my travels I passed an adult on the stairs, who made no effort to check my identity or even acknowledge me.

Having now been in the school for 10 minutes, completely unchallenged, I decided to talk to a teacher.

I walked into what appeared to be an RE lesson, and asked the way to the headmaster's office.

I was astonished at the reaction I received.

In spite being on the opposite side of the school from the headmaster's office, which is next to the main entrance and where, presumably, most visitors enter the school, the teacher made no attempt to check who I was.

Instead she sent a teenage girl to escort me across the school to where she thought the headmaster's office was.

It turned out to be the wrong office, so I set off for another wander, this time straight through the main entrance hall, which was manned by two young girls who I assumed were checking on visitors but they didn't ask me who I was.

I walked back and forth, past offices full of people who made no attempt to question me before finding my way to the office of the headmaster's PA, where I delivered my letter and left.

By this time I had spent 15 minutes roaming through the school, unchallenged, unchecked, unknown.

'It has made us aware of the issues'

SCHOOL governor Robert Buckland says the Adver's investigation into security at Ridgeway has caused him great concern.

Mr Buckland, pictured, has been a partnership governor at the Wroughton-based school for two years and says that every effort is made to keep pupils safe.

Weeks after the incident in January last year 8ft mesh gates were installed surrounding the school.

"We obviously want to ensure pupils are as safe as possible without feeling like they are in a prison," he said.

"But of course it does concern me that a reporter managed to wander around the school without being challenged."

An extraordinary meeting of teachers and governors was held at Ridgeway an hour after the final verdicts in the second Ridgeway attack trial were announced on Tuesday. The meeting was convened to discuss the events leading up to the attack on Henry Webster.

Mr Buckland said: "I do take great concern over what happened but maybe in a way it is a good thing because it has made us aware of the issues which need to be tackled.

"I still feel that children at Ridgeway School are safe. There was a time when it was a beautifully open school in a village environment. Unfortunately one isolated but horrific incident did not only lead to one child been affected forever but meant the school could no longer operate the way it had been."

Mr Buckland also responded to concerns by parents that children were manning a reception desk at the entrance of the school. He said: "Anything that takes a child out of lessons concerns me but I was not aware that this was happening. We will continue to assess security measures at the school."