A farmer has expressed her intention to take further action after her daughters were suspended from school for participating in a welly boot protest. Alice Hatt, alongside her partner, is “fuming” and shocked following claims that a teacher took the girls “home” to a farm that wasn’t theirs, leaving them unsupervised for two hours.
The family, who rear beef and sheep on an 800-acre farm at Tregrylls Farm in Lesnewth, situated between Boscastle and Davidstow, are concerned about the government’s changes to inheritance tax which could affect their children’s future inheritance of the farm. Despite being too busy to join Tuesday’s London protest, Alice’s daughters, Kimberly, 12, and Pippa, 13, decided to show their support by wearing wellies to Sir James Smith’s School in Camelford, as did many other farming children nationwide.
Alice recounts the incident: “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.”
“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.”, reports Cornwall Live.
To sign up to the weekly Cornwall Politics newsletter click here. She alleges that after two hours, a school staff member collected the girls from the abandoned farm and returned them to Sir James Smith’s.
“They missed lunch and had to wait until 3pm when I could pick them up,” their mother added. Alice is determined to escalate the matter: “Surely you have no right to be driving my children anywhere and leaving them unsupervised? ” This family is 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.”
“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.”
said the family who own their farm and have hopes for their children to one day inherit it. Continuing with conviction, the concerned parent added: “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, aligned with Alice’s views, expressed her support for the wellie protest on Facebook. The day before the demonstration, she made her stance clear: “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.”
She didn’t hold back her criticism of the schools’ policies: “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.”
The post went further to underline the importance of practical knowledge: “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.”
We’ve reached out to Sir James Smith’s School and the Westcountry Schools Trust, who oversee the school, multiple times this week seeking comment on Alice’s claims but have not yet received a reply. Nevertheless, the school has shared its support for Tuesday’s protest on social media, posting an image of students donning wellies with the caption: “At SJS we value our young people’s voices. Today a group of students want to support a farm protest that is taking place nationally.”
