Newington C of E Primary School (Picture: Google)

Hundreds of school children were reduced to tears in a refugee evacuation exercise which was so realistic, many thought it was genuine.

Primary school children, as young as four, were told they were being evacuated during a role play.

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Pupils at Newington CE Primary School in Sittingbourne, Kent, were told during their assembly that ‘something big had happened in London’ and that they would be separated from their parents.

The fake scenario which was carried out on Friday, before the Manchester Bombing attack, was designed to raise awareness of refugees.


But instead the poorly-planned exercise left children ‘distressed and disturbed’.



Michael Theodorou, whose stepson attends the school, said: ‘The kids were all told that something big had happened in London and that transporters were coming to pick them up.

‘They then said that they didn’t know if their parents would know where they were being taken and might not be able to see them and they would be separated from their friends and family.

‘At the end they noticed most of the children in the school were disturbed and distressed.

‘Most of the parents have complained to the school.’

Pupils were left distressed and disturbed (Picture: Getty)

The role play was staged as part of Christian Aid week, but the charity say none of their volunteers or staff organised it.

Julie Hardy, whose son is in Year 1, said: ‘A Year 1 teacher got up and told them they were being evacuated and had no time to see parents before but hopefully they’d find them.

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‘Everyone was crying and all the girls were upset that they weren’t going to see their mums.’

The school, which has around 155 pupils and was rated ‘Good’ in their last Oftsted report, have since apologised to parents.

A letter sent from staff to parents of children at the school said the scenario had not been discussed with any senior member of staff beforehand.

They said the school would ensure any future activities would be discussed with a member of senior staff.

The letter read: ‘We intended to provide a scenario that would enable the children to empathise with those we were raising money for.

‘In hindsight, although this message should have been delivered in a more appropriate manner it was provided with the best of intentions and discussions and training will take place with staff to ensure that it will not happen again.

‘The children have been reassured that this was a fictional activity and have been apologised to.

‘We apologise for any upset your child may have experienced and wish to reiterate our aim to provide a safe and happy environment for your children to learn and flourish.’

A spokesperson from Christian Aid said: ‘We have very little information about how exactly this was presented to pupils, but we would never recommend any teaching approaches that put undue stress on children, and our Christian Aid Week schools resources took a very different approach to the one that the school is reported to have taken.’



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