A SOUTHAMPTON school that was targeted for the third time this year by vandals are preparing to buy new security cameras worth £5,000.

Teachers discover shards of broken glass after a group of teenagers used a drain pipe to smash 13 skylight windows at Townhill Junior School.

The attack took place just days before pupils were due to sit their exams and the year six classrooms were the worst affected.

Now the school is looking to buy new high definition cameras to help prevent any future attacks.

Nick Humphries, the deputy head, said: "Members of the public and families have been amazing and we have now identified all of the children involved, with a number of others coming forward after seeing the footage.

"We have spoken to a security company to review the CCTV footage and we are going to replace all of the cameras with high definition cameras when we have all the money from our GoFundMe page. Since setting the page up at the weekend, we have received over £500 by parents."

"We are aiming to raise £2,500 from the page and the school will match the other £2,500."

The new CCTV cameras will alert senior members of staff to any suspicious activity they detect, sending an alert to their phones and allowing them to view live footage from their mobile phones.

Senior members of staff will also be able to take screenshots of the footage, making it easier for them to identify trespassers.

Nick added: "We would like to think it would not happen again, but with the new system we would know about the incident sooner and would be able to get it cleaned up. This would allow us to have classrooms that are useable.

"The security company have a few other ideas on what we can do to improve our security, which is very promising.

"We also had former pupils making donations, which is really supportive."

As previously reported in the Echo, Sian Carr, headteacher of Townhill Junior School, said she was disappointed after the attack on the school as they look to engage with the community and to have that happen was a "real kick in the teeth".

To donate to the school's new security cameras, follow the link https://www.gofundme.com/townhill-junior-school.