Kingsclere pupils' adventure holiday wrecked by strike

According to the school, a party of 28 Year 6 pupils from the school in Ash Grove set off on a four-and-a-half-hour coach journey on Sunday for a residential trip to Adventure International, in Bude Cornwall.
On arrival, they discovered they faced the long journey back home again, owing to a strike bystaff at Adventure International, which runs outdoor holidays for school groups and families, taking up to 350 guests.
A school statement issued on Tuesday said: “Early on Monday morning, we were made aware from our group leader that the children would have to return home, as the staff at the centre had gone on strike because of staffing redundancies that had been made last week.”
A furious parent, who did not want to be named, said they had waved the children off on the coach, for a eagerly anticipated, five-day adventure holiday, then school staff had telephoned parents on Monday, informing them that the holiday had been cancelled owing to the strike and the pupils would be returning home on Tuesday.
“I have been led to believe that the staff walked out on Friday, so why didn’t the management contact the school or have contingencies in place?” said the parent, adding that they were “absolutely disgusted”.
“Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be welcoming home a coachload of very disappointed children,”they added.
However, school staff have saved the day by stepping in to quickly arrange another activity holiday, at short notice.
“The children are going to Skern Lodge in Bideford, North Devon. The parents will not incur any extra cost,” said the school’s senior administrative officer Janet Doling.
She added that the pupils had been disappointed at the cancellation of their Cornish holiday, but the school was pleased with the mature way that they had coped with the situation.
Adventure International were unavailable for comment about the cancellation of the Bude, Cornwall trip, but the dispute has been widely reported as revolving around a member of the 74-strong staff who was made redundant, following which more than half the staff walked out on Friday.
School parties from Canterbury, Southampton and Torquay were also affected by the strike.