A head teacher has confirmed her school will not reopen before the summer holidays after bomb was found in the building’s roof.

Police and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) evacuated St John’s Church Of England Primary School in Northgate, Canterbury on Thursday (July 18).

Roofers carrying out work at the site discovered a suspicious item in the roof.

The school’s pupils were led out of the building at 2pm when emergency services descended on the premises.

They were then moved to the playing field for safety while the bomb squad removed the ordnance at about 3pm for disposal.

It was later confirmed to be an unexploded bomb from the Second World War.

Shortly after the evacuation, the school texted parents urging them to collect their little ones as the site needed to be locked.

Yet despite the cordon since being lifted, the school’s head, Jo Williamson, has announced it will not be teaching again until the autumn.

The pupils were due to complete the summer term on Tuesday (July 23), before returning on September 2 for the new school year.

However, the closure means those in Year 6 have now seen their time at St John’s come to a sudden end.

Mrs Williamson wrote to parents informing them of the decision.

She said: “As a precaution to keep the whole school community safe, we have decided not to reopen school next week.

“This will allow for further investigations of the roof to take place.

“I understand this was not the planned end to term that we all wanted.

“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience this has caused, but I am sure you would agree safety must come first.”

St John’s, which received a ‘Good’ rating following its latest Ofsted inspection in January, has 442 pupils on its books aged two to 11.

Those departing for secondary school in September have, though, been promised a finale to their time at the establishment.

Ms Williamson added: “As a school, our priority next week is to ensure Year 6 leavers have an opportunity to say goodbye to their teachers and friends and have some closure from their primary years.

“With this in mind, I am pleased to say St Peter’s Methodist Church, in St Peter’s Street, has kindly offered to host our Year 6 leavers’ service.

“This will take place on Tuesday (July 23) at 9.30am followed by an opportunity to sign T-shirts and have some refreshments together.

“We are also aware many children would like to have their bikes, scooters and lunch boxes for the summer holidays, so we will be opening the school car park on Tuesday between 11am and 12pm so these can be collected by an adult.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful families for your kind messages over the last 24 hours. Your support, as always, is very much appreciated.

“We would like to wish all our children and families a very happy and safe summer holiday and we look forward to seeing you in September for the start of a new school year.”