Headteacher apologises for letter 'shaming' parents over Storm Franklin
Jenna Maxwell
Netmums ContributorMany parents kept children home during storm Franklin and were unhappy with the school's reaction.
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A headteacher in Merseyside has been forced to apologise to parents for sending a letter on Monday, shaming them for keeping children at home during Storm Franklin.
Angela Holleran, headteacher of All Saints Catholic Primary School in Bootle, stated in the letter that it was ‘staggering’ so many children had missed school due to the high winds.
But parents were not impressed.
One parent said the letter made her feel like a ‘bad parent’ while brandishing it ‘disgusting’.
Storm Franklin brought 70mph winds just days after the stronger Storm Eunice and Merseyside was under a yellow weather warning at the time.
In the letter, Ms Holleran wrote:
‘Unfortunately, we have many children absent today, not because of Covid or other illnesses but apparently because of the wind!
‘I have to say I find this staggering, not least because most live in very close proximity to the school.
‘Given the amount of pre-school and school experiences that our children have already missed in the last two years, missing a whole day’s learning today is unacceptable.
‘For staff, many of whom travelled considerable distances here this morning, eager to introduce new learning topics to their class, it is incredibly frustrating.’
The headteacher went on to compare the Merseyside children’s commute to school, to those living in war-torn countries.
She said she was ‘in awe’ seeing photographs of children walking barefoot to school ‘for miles’.
After the reaction of the parents, Ms Holleran has now apologised for the letter and has stated it was ‘not the intention’ to upset parents.
One mum, whose child attends the school, called the letter ‘disgusting’.
She said: ‘I’ve kept my son off school due to the winds as I work from 8am being a single mum he has to take himself to school.
‘For safety reasons I didn’t want him walking on his own, there were many people who I’m aware have kept their kids off too.
‘When I saw the email from the school I was crying to my sister about it because they were making me feel like a bad parent for putting my kid first.
She added: ‘I was shocked at the last bit of the email, there’s no comparing kids here and people in really poor countries. It was awful.’
The headteacher said in response:
‘We are aware that we did experience windy conditions on Monday morning that the Met Office had issues a yellow weather warning for our area, indicating possible low-level impact.
'In line with schools across Sefton, we were open as normal to all pupils. All risk assessments on the site had been completed well in advance of the children arriving.
'All of our staff were in school ready for the start of the new half term, fully expecting pupils to arrive, given that the overwhelming majority live in very close proximity to the school.
'For pupils who did attend, classes went ahead as normal and following a further risk assessment, children were able to play and learn outdoors.
'We regret any upset caused to the parent who felt the need to contact the local paper. This was not our intention.’
Do you think the parents were overreacting? Share your thoughts in our forum…
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