... As the cold continued it emerged that schoolchildren as young as seven were forced to sit outside and eat their lunch in sub-zero conditions after a Mother’s Day lunch proved too popular.
On one of the coldest days of the year on Monday around 80 pupils at Duke Street Primary School in Chorley, Lancashire were sent outside to eat because of overcrowding in the dining room.
One mother accused the school of treating the children, who were “too cold to eat”, like “second class citizens” and other parents kept their children off school yesterday in “disgust”.
Headteacher Andrew Kidd has apologised as concerned families threaten to remove their children from the school.
Andrew Kidd said in a statement :
“I went outside to talk to welfare staff briefly before making this decision.”
“It was sunny and dry but it seems I underestimated how cold some children would find it.”
“Many children were excited about being able to use the picnic benches for the first time this year and saw it as a treat.”
“However, I can only apologise to those children and parents who felt it was too cold to be outside.”
“With hindsight it would have been better to give children the choice.”
Surely for once Mr. Kidd can make an unreserved apology to all children and parents for his gross error. He is always so quick to make excuses and to apportion blame to others. I would suspect that the welfare staff might take the brunt for his ridiculous instruction.
Parents are understandably extremely angry and worried.
The school says “The safety and happiness of everyone at Duke Street is paramount.” On this occasion, they ask what happened ? Why did no one have the commonsense to overrule Mr. Kidd’s instruction ?
As one parent said, “If I had done this to my child and forced her to eat outside in this weather then I’d expect a visit from Social Services !”
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From the school newsletter :
Mother’s Day Lunch
It appears that the last minute decision to send the older children out to eat their lunches on the picnic benches on Monday upset one or two people. I reiterate my apology to those parents and children concerned.
My decision to use the picnic benches was taken, having gone outside when it was dry and sunny. I have to say that the news that the picnic benches were to be used after a long absence was greeted with delight by most children, who rightly considered it a treat. Although the wintry weather appeared later on in the afternoon, whilst the children were outside eating their lunch, it was dry, and for the vast majority of the time, sunny.
Parents who know me would appreciate that I would never deliberately cause distress to children. I have spoken to a few parents about the issue and I feel that this is always the best way to share views; face to face or at least a conversation on the phone. I’m always happy to talk to parents about their concerns and feel that this is the best way to resolve matters. Other forms of communication such as social networking sites and local media are less constructive, in my opinion, when it comes to moving on positively.
And, on a “positive note”, can I say a big “Thank you!” to the kitchen staff for providing such a wonderful Mother’s Day lunch, enjoyed by a huge number of children and mums. The daffodils were a lovely touch and much appreciated by those who attended. “The salad was fantastic!” one mum commented to me as she was leaving. It always is!
I rather wish I’d contacted the local press myself last week, to get them to come and report on our lovely Mother’s Day lunch, but whether the editors would have found it as newsworthy to be a front page story, I’m not convinced. Negative stories always attract more interest, sadly. Their photographer could have taken a picture of all the smiling mums and children, standing in the sunshine, outside school, holding their daffodils.
What is wrong with this man ? Why can not he simply raise his hand and acknowledge that he got it wrong and that he’ll try not to make similar mistakes with our children in the future !
What part of too cold to eat outside does he not understand ? Playing out in the cold is great - I and other parents have no issue with this situation (as long as the children are adequately / suitably dressed). Eating out in the cold is not a good thing. Sitting stationary in adverse weather is not healthy for anyone and there are few of us who sent our loved ones off to school wearing Arctic clothing - yes, maybe that’s our fault !
Andrew Kidd said that he looked at the weather earlier on that day but not when the children were outside eating ! So who was there and why did they do nothing ?
He said that it was a treat for our children. How dare he abdicate such a choice to our children ! As we all know, there are so many dangers that children might consider to be a treat. Only responsible adults should make such choices on their behalf and, even then, they should maintain a vigilant eye on their health and safety.
I and others are fed up with flimsy excuses. He is responsible for our children; their education, safety, health and happiness. This time he got it wrong !
He says, “Parents who know me would appreciate that I would never deliberately cause distress to children.”
His statement is really worrying ! What is he trying to say ? Who would want to deliberately cause distress to children ? Why would anyone want to deliberately cause distress to children ? Is he saying that parents who do not know him might suspect that he wants to cause our children distress. Surely every member of staff has been proven to be safe and trusted to be in contact with our children and that no one will do them harm ? So what point is he trying to make ?
He needs to be careful with events such as this in the future. Like many other mothers, I could not attend because I work. He created a situation where children with mothers were cared for in the warmth and the rest of the children were put out in the cold. My daughter did not come home with a daffodil as a gift for me. Mr. Kidd created a divide in the children of Duke Street - those with mothers who could attend school during the day and those without mothers and those whose mothers have to work.
He closes with, “Their photographer could have taken a picture of all the smiling mums and children, standing in the sunshine, outside school, holding their daffodils.” And would not that have just been another cruel blow to my daughter and those who ate in the cold and were not given a daffodil ! The love of a child for its mother is the most wonderous thing - how much would it have cost to make sure that all the children could give their mum a daffodil !
2 comments:
Why does he say that he can only apologise to those who felt the cold? Is there something that prevents him apologising to everyone?
I don't want my daughter to have the choice of eating outside. I expect the school to look after her responsibly. It is not up to her to decide to eat at a bench in the cold!
I agree too that someone should have been responsible enough to take charge and bring our children into the warmth of a classroom to eat their dinner.
It all sounds so badly managed. Surely Mr. Kidd might have planned it better. It's a school for children. It's their dining room. So why did they have to be pushed out into the cold? They were treated badly, like 2nd class citizens of no importance!
As a result of Monday’s fiasco, the school now has a major challenge to regain credibility and to rebuild parent’s confidence that their children’s interests will come first in the future.
There is no doubt from the comments received by us and Lancashire Evening Post that there are genuine concerns. Other parents, including ourselves, consider that Mr. Kidd’s actions were not the wisest and that they did send out a clear indication by the school that the best interests of our children are not paramount at all times.
Clearly our children have not suffered any bad effects and many consider a good blast of chilly Chorley fresh air is no bad thing ! The problem is that the school wrongly prioritised a private luncheon party.
We ask about the future. Are we to see more inappropriate uses of school facilities where the children’s interests are overridden ? Next time, maybe there will be more serious consequences.
It is very much like the recent horse meat food product contamination scandal. We could take a view that there is no problem. No one was poisoned or suffered as a consequence. Horse meat is nourishing and flavoursome – and many countries do consume many meat products that we do not in Britain.
The point is that this meat contamination could have resulted in a disaster with many people suffering from effects of e-coli, salmonella and other chemical / biological effects.
We entrust the school to make decisions on behalf of us. For the most, the school care for our children extremely well.
This incident must be examined and questions must be answered. It was clear that some children were cold and inappropriately dressed. They were being supervised. Why did no one show any sense and take them indoors into the warmth ?
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