Welly protesting girls 'booted out of school and left on wrong farm'

A local farmer is up in arms after her daughters were suspended from school following their involvement in a welly boot protest. Alice Hatt, along with her partner, expressed astonishment upon discovering that a teacher had taken their children "home" to an incorrect farm, leaving them without supervision for two hours.

Operating Tregrylls Farm in Lesnewth, a vast 800-acre estate situated between Boscastle and Davidstow in Cornwall, Alice's beef and sheep farming family expected one day to hand over the reins of the enterprise to their children. Nevertheless, government alterations concerning inheritance tax constitute a looming challenge.

Although the family wanted to join the London protest on Tuesday, their agricultural commitments rendered participation impossible.

Instead, Alice's daughters, Kimberly, 12, and Pippa, 13, decided to conduct a protest on their own turf. They joined a national movement among farm children by donning welly boots to Sir James Smith's School, Camelford, aligning with their peers who did the same across the nation.

Alice recounts the events: "The girls wanted to do it and I was very proud of them that they stood up for what they believe in and they didn't back down. However, after about an hour and a half I got a phone call from the school saying I needed to bring shoes in for the girls. I told them we were out TB testing so couldn't get there until the end of the day", reports Cornwall Live.

"I asked if they could just wear wellies for one day to support farmers, but they said 'no, if they're not going to change their shoes, they're suspended'. So they put my two girls in a car with a teacher who drove them to a farm we farm but don't live at.

"They didn't even take them to the farmyard, they drove them halfway down the lane and left them there for two hours unsupervised. It's literally just a farm with animals and slurry pits - all the dangers that a farm has," said the mother. She claims that after two hours, a school staff member picked up the girls from the deserted farm and took them back to Sir James Smith's.

"They missed lunch and had to wait until 3pm when I could pick them up," she added. The mum says she is taking it further: "Surely you have no right to be driving my children anywhere and leaving them unsupervised? " This family are among many in the area who have allowed their children to participate in the welly protest.

"The school didn't like it, even though we had to support them when the teachers were protesting. My kids had five days off school last year because they were all up London protesting their pay. I find it very hypocritical to be honest with you."

She added, "They were in full school uniform, they had their wellies on as well, which were clean. They didn't go to school covered in dirt or anything. It was one day to make a stand when they [teachers] had five days last year to make a stand for their cause.

"The girls weren't doing it to follow a crowd, they were doing it because it's their life and future."

The family owns their farm and had hopes of passing it on to their children. "That was the plan but obviously nothing's going smoothly with that anymore. I think the inheritance tax is an absolute disgrace. It's a kick in the teeth to farmers everywhere."

Another mum in the area, close to Alice, shared her views on Facebook about her own children taking part in the welly protest. The day before the event, she posted: "Let's make this very clear - my children will be wearing wellies tomorrow at school. I think it's disgusting that the schools have not made more of a statement supporting our farmers, especially as we are a country community and a large amount of our families in school are farmers."

"Don't use the excuse of school policy as they can dress up for Children in Need, Halloween and any other charity or time that suits. I'm pretty sure that this is one of the biggest things in the country that needs to be supported now and for the future, and people need to be educated about the effects of farming and, God forbid, not having farmers."

She further stated: "The schools are so worried about A* student grades and how it makes them look on paper, but none of this teaches them how to live, to feed themselves and how to look after the countryside we live in. So YES my children will be wearing wellies to support our lifestyles, our livelihood and our country."

Despite numerous attempts to contact Sir James Smith's School and the Westcountry Schools Trust, a multi-academy trust that oversees the school, for their response to Alice's concerns, CornwallLive has yet to receive any reply.