Primary school criticised for ‘refugee walk’ in 33C heat

A primary school in Kent has come under fire for encouraging children to embark on a charity walk on the hottest day of the year in order to show solidarity with refugees.

The Met Office had issued a health warning to stay out of the heat as temperatures in the region rose as high as 33C on Monday. However, teachers at St Gregory’s Catholic School, in Margate, decided to go ahead with the trek, which saw students doing five laps of a field, as part in the Share the Journey campaign launched by Pope Francis, reports The Times.

The decision was met with mixed reactions among the children’s families, with some saying the walk should have been axed.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

One grandmother posted a message online that called the stunt “disgusting”, says The Sun. The Facebook post received 300 comments before it was deleted.

Others supported the walk, adds The Times, with one parent writing that refugees “have to make a longer and hotter walk to a safer place” and that the event was “wonderful” .

Diane Rougvie-Fevrier, the acting head teacher, defended the decision to go ahead with the walk, adding that it had been optional and that water and hats were provided.

She said: “Pope Francis wanted to show solidarity with our global neighbours by encouraging people to walk and represent the journeys they have made. St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School children wanted to add their steps to the target of 24,900 miles, which is the distance around the world.

“Both children and staff had a wonderful uplifting morning and we are proud of our contribution.”