over by a visitor on the school premises.

And his grandmother told The Royal Gazette the incident was a clear example of why it would be dangerous to place primary school students at the secondary school site.

Fourteen-year-old Jermaine Philpott said he was playing basketball in the school's courtyard with friends before the school day began when he jumped up to block a shot.

"As I jumped another student jumped up and knocked against me, so I fell.'' As he tried to get up, Jermaine said he felt a "stinging'' in his right arm and he saw black tires and a red car moving away from him.

"I remember moving my arm from the tire, but it wasn't hurting, so I continued to play,'' he said, adding that he realised that he was injured when he saw blood running down his arm.

The second year student said the woman, who was driving the car, continued on when she saw him get up and return to playing basketball.

Jermaine, who was to be taken to the hospital for observation, said he then went to a gym teacher who patched up his arm.

He also said he reported the incident to teacher Miss Elizabeth Trott who is responsible for bringing school accidents to principal Mrs. Carol Bassett's attention.

But when contacted yesterday, Mrs. Bassett said she had no knowledge of the incident and she said she suspected Jermaine had concocted the story.

"I find that whole story very strange,'' Mrs. Bassett told The Royal Gazette .

"Neither myself nor the deputy principal know about this.

"If in the event it was an accident, I would have logged it.

"I've seen him four times today and he hasn't said anything to me about it.'' While Miss Trott confirmed that Jermaine mentioned the incident to her, she said: "He was extremely vague''.

Both Miss Trott and Mrs. Bassett said they would look into the matter further.

However, Mrs. Janet Bean said she was more concerned with the safety of her grandson and other students at Northlands.

"One of the teachers phoned me and said there was nothing to worry about,'' Mrs. Bean said.

"And now they are talking about putting people's babies up there. That place is just not safe.'' The incident came on the heels of Dellwood PTA's strong objection to Government's plan to move Dellwood Primary School students to Northlands in 1997 and that school's students to Dellwood which will become a middle school.

The PTA, which planned to hold a protest march on Friday, has expressed concern about primary students safety at the Northlands site on Berkeley Road.

It has also voted four times on the issue. The most recent vote, taken at a PTA meeting last Thursday, showed that a majority was against the move, although a former PTA president has also said Government had met earlier demands by the parents.

Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira said Government had left no stone unturned in its search for the best solution to the problem.

Dr. Terceira has vowed to stand by the decision and he said plans were underway to make improvements to the Northlands site, including an underpass aimed at protecting children from traffic, extensions to the present playing field, and railings for the second floor balconies.

But yesterday Dellwood restructuring committee chairperson Mrs. Mary Samuels said: "How can they morally justify putting 300 children, who have no place to play in their backyard, in facilities incompatible with their physical growth''.

Mrs. Samuels again questioned why the Northlands middle school could not be moved to the old Technical Institute building at Prospect.

She added that this would be cheaper than Government's proposal to turn Northlands into a primary school.

While Mrs. Samuels said she was not at liberty to comment on the PTA's next course of action, she claimed that the Department of Education had invoked a "code of silence'' on principals and teachers.

"To me that's infringing on the rights of those who are parents,'' she said.

"They are on the front line of the system. They are the ones who know what's going on, but they are not allowed to give any input.'' Mrs. Samuels said Chief Education Officer Mr. Dean Furbert recently visited at least two schools to make the Department's order clear.

She said the Department wanted to keep teachers silent on "a policy that they know makes no sense''.

Mrs. Samuels also noted that some teachers and principals had children in the public school system.

"They have a responsibility to their children, which I think should take precedence.'' But Bermuda Union of Teachers' general secretary Mr. Milton Scott said while teachers' general orders restrict what they can say and do publicly, most do not speak out because they fear reprisals.

Student Jermaine Philpott shows his injuries.