Chaos on Doncaster school's trip to France as 'teacher leaves all pupils' passports at home'

Year 9 students at Thorne’s Trinity Academy were left stranded for a number of hours while arrangements were made to transport the passports nearly 200 miles to Kent.

In messages sent to parents and seen by the Free Press, the school reported they had been delayed sailing to France due to ‘unforeseen circumstances.’

And despite the group of youngsters eventually making it across the Channel to start their £625 trip, which is due to run until Friday, angry parents have been left fuming at the blunder.

One mum said: “A child asked the teachers shortly after leaving if they had the passports to which the teacher said ‘yes.’

"Next thing, I got a message from my daughter in the early hours to say they were in Dover but the teachers had forgotten the passports. I honestly thought it was a joke at first.

"Then she said someone was going to take the passports to them but they couldn’t get a ferry until later on that day because legally the driver had to have a break from driving.”

Pupils and staff set off from the school around midnight on Sunday, travelling through the night to get to Dover for their ferry trip across the Channel to travel to the Hotel Château de Grande Romaine, a PGL activity centre near Paris.

However, when the mistake was realised, the coach was diverted to Windmill Hill, another PGL outdoor activity centre near Bexhill.

A text sent to parents said: “Our ETA at the PGL centre in Paris has been delayed until this evening due to unforeseen circumstances.

"We have rearranged the timetable and we will be eating and taking in activities at Windmill Hill until the driver has had his legal rest break."

A later text told parents: “Planning for a change of ferry from Dover to Calais (instead of Dunkirk) to reduce the travel time. Y9s have been fantastic and taking the adventure in their stride!”

"No activities have been missed that we couldn't have had at the French centre so we are still on track with the itinerary.”

After arriving in Calais at around 9pm, pupils had to endure a four to five hour journey to the chateau, reportedly arriving at around 3am before being up a few hours later to begin activities.

The mum said: “All the children are exhausted. We haven’t had one apology from Trinity Academy.

"All we have had is texts from them trying to worm their way out of this.

"I’ll never trust Trinity Academy to take my child on another trip as long as I live. There are seven teachers on that trip - this should never have happened.

“There are so many angry parents.”

According to the school's website, the 48 place trip includes sightseeing trips to the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe the Champs-Elysées and the Louvre as well as a full day in Disneyland Paris with dinner in the Planet Hollywood restaurant.

Ironically, a letter sent to parents ahead of the trip about passports says: “Parents/carers should also bear in mind that ALL pupils will need to travel on their own passport.

"We will be collecting these at least one month before the trip to avoid the possibility of any individual losing, forgetting or not having been issued with their passport.

Please be reminded that a pupil will not be able to travel if they are lacking either the documents.”

We have contacted the school for further comment.