Parents unhappy over school trip snub for children

Parents at a Blackpool school say they are unhappy over the way a promised school trip to the Pleasure Beach Resort ended up with half the class being told they coudn’t go.

They say the trip was proposed for the Year 6 class at Mereside Primary Academy as an end of year treat, and the children had been looking forward to it.

Parents said they understood the trip was planned on the understanding that it was a rewards-based incentive, requiring good behaviour from the pupils.

Many academies do utilise a rewards-based points system to encourage good behaviour in school.

But the group of parents say that the way youngsters were told at a late stage that they could not be going, whilst others would be allowed to, was unfairly harsh and left a bitter taste among the pupils and their parents.

The Fylde Coast Academy Trust, which oversees the Langdale Road school on the Mereside estate, has issued a statement.

Parent Angela Riding, 39, whose son is in Year 6, said: “Most of the parents at the school would struggle to afford to take their kids to the Pleasure Beach, so they were really glad about this trip.

“The children have been trying to be on their best behavior, they were looking forward to the trip.

“When some of the class were told they would go, and the rest were told they couldn’t, it was so disappointing for them.

“It should never have been planned like that. Being excluded from a day out like that is a horrible way to end your time at a school, it sends out a really negative message to the children.”

Another parent, Sarah Scott, 33, said: “We weren’t told they wouln’t be going until they came home.

“We had no phone calls or letters or explanation. If there were issues over misbehaviour we should have been told beforehand but it just came as a big shock and disappointment.”

She said a number of parents went into the school to make their feelings known but were not given a proper chance.

John Topping, FCAT Community Relations and Estates Lead said. “We are unable to give a specific comment at this time due to the school having broken up for the summer holidays but our wish is that all our pupils and their families have a great time together over the coming weeks after what has been a very busy term and school year.”

The school was given a ‘good’ rating in its most recent Ofsted report last year, when it was reported there were 314 children on the roll.