Parents in row over school prom issues at St George's High School in Blackpool

The school prom – the end of year party where pupils dress up and let their hair down at the end of the final school term – was initially due to be held this summer by St George’s School but was controversially cancelled in February.

Some parents say they were given only six days to pay the £25 ticket and £25 for the school hoodie at the same time, meaning a number of less well-off families were struggling to afford to pay in time.

As a result, the ticket sales were lower than expected and the prom was cancelled altogether by the academy school on Cherry Tree Road, Marton.

But parents have since become angered again after a ‘consolatory’ school breakfast event was made ‘invitation-only’, excluding some youngsters.

And parents then saw that the school prom for next year’s prom was posted on the school website, which many felt was ‘rubbing their noses in it’.

A small group of parents have now organised their own school prom event for August, planned to involve all year 11 pupils who want to attend.

However, St George’s head teacher Graham Warnock says the school had no choice but to cancel the school prom because there simply weren’t enough numbers to make the booking tenable – and he says parents have known about the cancelation for five months.

And Mr Warnock was keen to put the record straight over “a recent unaffiliated social media post regarding the Year 11 prom” which contained ‘misinformation’.

School parent Jeanette Burton, 38, of Marton, is organising the August school prom and said: “As far as we know St George’s is the only school in Blackpool not having an official school prom and the pupils were gutted when it was cancelled.

"A lot of parents have struggled with income, losing their jobs over Covid and the cost of living rises, and should have been given more time to pay – then obviously more tickets would have been sold.

"Just when we were getting over that, there was more disappointment over the breakfast situation.

"But for the school to advertise the school prom for 2023 at this time, praising that year group, is really rubbing the noses in it – it’s just insensitive and has raked it all up again.”

The school prom which she and other parents have organised will now take place at the Carousel Hotel, South Shore, on August 23 and she is keen for parents to contact her.

She said there had been an ‘amazing’ community response from parents and businesses who had donated funds to ensure pupils from less well-off families could attend it.

Kelly Sinclair, 43, of Marton, another organiser of the alternative prom party, said: “The Year 11 group are the first pupils to take their GCSEs after all the disruption of the pandemic, and they deserved a school prom.

"My daughter was gutted, she had been working out what dress to wear.

"At least now we are pulling together to get a prom together after all.”

But head teacher Mr Warnock said: “We are aware of a recent unaffiliated social media post regarding the Year 11 prom.

"Whilst we normally ignore social media, we felt it was important to explain the facts and the misinformation being reported.

“Year 11 parents were consulted on January 21 regarding their opinion of a leavers’ prom.

"We did not want to consult earlier as the country was still in the midst of a pandemic.

"Based on our work to poverty proof the event we were mindful of the financial pressures this could place on families, especially due to Covid. “Therefore, we listed all the hidden costs of the prom to make parents aware of the commitment. A prom is more than just the cost of the ticket.

“On the February 1 a letter was sent to parents explaining that there were 182 pupils in the Academy and only 76 pupils wanted a prom. “Despite this, we still decided to run the prom with staff making up any additional expenses so that it would be at no additional cost to

families.

" A deposit was requested but only 47 pupils paid the deposit and the other pupils had expressed they were no longer interested in the prom. “This did not make the prom viable.

“Parents and pupils were made aware that the prom would not take place in a letter dated February 11, and no issues/concerns were brought to the Academy’s attention.

"Five months later a small number of parents have decided to organise a prom at short notice to families.

“Our Year 11 senior prefects requested the option of a leavers’ hoody. Parents were given an additional month to purchase these. A number of the Academy staff purchased a hoody for those families that were financially struggling.

“On June 30, when all pupils had finished their exams we had a leavers’ celebration assembly where we played music, staff signed shirts and year books and a breakfast was given at no cost to pupils; no pupil was turned away.

"As is our tradition, the Year 7s formed a guard of honour and applauded the year 11s as they left the Academy.

"This leavers’ assembly followed the same format as every other year.”