You will have received the letter. The Governing Body has decided that after 32 years, the Coppice ski trip is over — and not one parent was asked.

No survey. No meeting. No conversation. A tradition that has been part of this school since 1993 was quietly ended on a Thursday afternoon via an email.

Many of us chose this school in part because of what it offers our children. The ski trip has been part of that offer for as long as most of us can remember. For many children here it is the only realistic chance they will ever have to ski — our school makes it affordable in a way a family ski holiday simply never could be.

Coppice Primary's motto is "Reaching New Heights". For 32 years, the ski trip has embodied that motto more literally than almost anything else this school has offered, putting children on a mountain, doing something they never thought they could, and bringing them home with a confidence that no classroom lesson can replicate. It is precisely the kind of experience that motto was written to describe. Cancelling it without so much as asking whether it can be saved sits very uncomfortably alongside those words.

The reasons given in the letter do not stack up. Children on a school organised trip are on an authorised educational visit — they are not absent, and the attendance guidance cited simply does not apply in the way the letter suggests. The school runs a residential for every other year group and none of those have been cancelled. No one has explained why this one is different.

There is also a specific injustice here for our current Year 5 families. Many of those children did not go this year on the understanding, given by the school, that they would go in Year 6. That opportunity has now been taken from them without notice and without apology.

This petition is not just about the ski trip. It is about making sure that decisions of this significance are never taken this way again. We want to know that when something valued by this community is under review, proper due diligence will be carried out, parents will be consulted, and every alternative will be genuinely explored before a final decision is reached. That is not an unreasonable expectation.

We recognise that nothing worth keeping comes without effort. We understand that schools face pressures and that some things have to change. But a 32-year tradition that transforms what is possible for our children deserves more than a letter of cancellation. It deserves a proper conversation, one where the problems are laid out openly, where parents and teachers are given a genuine chance to contribute, and where every option is exhausted before the door is closed.

We want the Governing Body to come to us, explain exactly what the obstacles are, and work with us to find a way through. We want them to fight for this trip the way this community has always fought for its children. If there are problems with cost, timing, access, or logistics, let us help solve them. That is what a school community is for.

If you believe this decision should not stand without a proper hearing — and that our school community deserves better than this — please add your name.

What happens next

1. Reach 150 signatures. With around 350 families at Coppice, 150 signatures represents a substantial proportion of the school community and gives this petition a clear mandate to take to the Governing Body.
2. Formal letter to the Chair of Governors. Once we reach our target, a formal letter will be delivered to Mr S. Higgins, Chair of Governors, on behalf of all signatories. The letter sets out the legal and procedural concerns with the decision in detail and formally requests that the Governing Body suspends the cancellation, meets with a parent delegation, and carries out a proper consultation.
3. Request a meeting. We will request a meeting with the Chair of Governors and ask that parent representatives are given the opportunity to put their case directly to the Governing Body.

We will keep all signatories updated on progress. Thank you for your support.