Children burst into tears after hearing their end-of-school trip to the Netherlands had been cancelled. The school children, aged 10 and 11, were just two weeks away from their flight.
Broadclyst Primary School in Exeter had arranged to fly Year 6 children on a residential trip between July 11 and July 15. A scramble to find alternative travel proved unsuccessful and the trip has been cancelled.
One mother told DevonLive: "A lot of the children were in tears when they found out and very upset as they’ve been so excited about the trip. My son didn’t cry but seemed resigned to the fact that yet another thing has been cancelled. I believe there were about 33 of them plus teachers going."
Another parent said: "As you can imagine the children are devastated. They have been so excited about the trip having missed out on all residentials in Years 4 & 5 and so much more due to Covid. This is their last term at primary school and the trip was going to be a large part of making up for everything they have missed out on over the last few years."
Head teacher Jonathan Bishop, who is also the CEO of the Cornerstone Academy which oversees four Devon schools, revealed that he was joining the trip because he wanted to make sure it was extra special as it was the first residential in three years.
Mr Bishop wrote to parents: "Sadly we were informed last Friday that both the outbound and return flights for the trip to the Netherlands have been cancelled by EasyJet. We have spent the past few days trying to find alternative modes of transport.
"However, due to the proximity of the departure and the size of our group it has not been possible to book anything. We have tried alternative flights, other airports, trains and the Eurostar and travel by coach and ferry. Everything is fully booked.
"Please be assured that we have not made the decision to cancel lightly and we are so disappointed for the children who have been looking forward to this opportunity.
"We are now working with the school insurance to get a refund and we will be in touch shortly to arrange for the money you have paid to be refunded to you."
An EasyJet spokesman said: “We are very sorry that this group’s flights have been cancelled. The ongoing challenging operating environment coupled with the recent airport capacity caps required us to make pre-emptive action including some advance cancellations to build further resilience over summer.
"Affected customers have been notified directly with information on their options to rebook or receive a refund. Nonetheless, we fully understand the inconvenience and disappointment caused to the students and teachers of Broadclyst Primary School as a result of the cancellations and are very sorry for this.
"Our customer team will reach out to them and do all possible to assist them with their travel plans”.
