"It's disgusting. My anxiety is through the roof": Angry Chesterfield mum speaks up after mix up at Chesterfield secondary school trip leaves children unable to board plane to Spain

Lisa Singleton dropped off her son at Tupton Hall School in Chesterfield at 2am on Monday, July 21 to make sure he could catch the coach to London Gatwick Airport with his friends.

He recently finished his GCSE exams and was excited for his first ever trip abroad, for which he had waited for almost a year.

Lisa said: “I dropped him off at the school. He was very exited to go to Spain. When they all got to the coach and we were waving them off one parent stood talking to the teacher near the coach saying she was anxious, because it was her child's first time going abroad.

"The teacher said it can be very frightening and daunting, but rest assured, we've got it all under control. We do this every year.

"That was very ironic because they had nothing under control and everything got messed up.”

The pupils were divided into two groups with a separate coach and flight booked for each group.

The first flight was set to take off from London Gatwick Airport at 6.10am and the second at 9.10am.

But after pupils from the first coach arrived at the airport, they were not allowed to board the plane – because the tickets for the flight were booked for children from the second coach.

They were eventually allowed to board the 9.10am flights but pupils who arrived in the later coach, had to go back to Chesterfield as the earlier flight had already left.

Lisa Singleton, whose son was in the second, coach said: “My son messaged me at half past five this morning, telling me it’s been cancelled. I thought he was joking. I said to don’t be silly. He rang me and said he was being serious.

"The school got the children to ring the parents. They didn't send anything out until eight o'clock this morning. They knew at half past three this morning what had happened when the first group of children was not allowed to board.

“They totally messed it up and and they didn't even contact parents. It’s disgusting.”

The parents eventually got a message from the school around 8am explaining the mix up and the next steps.

The children from the later coach were taken back to the school and arrived in Chesterfield at 11.30am with parents informed that two flights were booked to let them join their friends in Spain – one on Monday evening and one on Tuesday morning.

Lisa said: “My son was absolutely shattered.

"It’s awful, it’s his first trip abroad. And it’s not not just him, it’s the first trip abroad for some other children as well.

"The couldn’t book all children on one flight and they worked it out so the younger children, those with special needs and more anxious went on the first flight.

"I totally understand where they're coming from. But some children like my son were in Year 11. He has just finished his exams. These students should have been a priority, they have worked so hard for this holiday. It's not fair.

"Mistakes are made, accidents happen. But this holiday's been booked for long enough somebody should have noticed something wasn't right.”

The parents were also told that due to the mix up with the flights to Spain, the return flights had to be cancelled and booked again – and it was not certain when exactly the children would fly back.

After the draining day and night of travelling to London and back Lisa asked her son if he still wanted to fly to Spain and he did.

She said: “My anxiety is through the roof, because I don't even know when my kid is getting back. I didn’t want him to go, but I couldn’t break his heart again.

"He waited for nearly a year for this trip and he's never going to get the chance to do this again with his friends.”

She added: “The school said there shouldn't be any extra cost.

"But the kids are missing a whole day of activities and beach day.We should be getting compensation. I would want them to take some responsibility for what they've done.”

The Derbyshire Times contacted Tupton Hall School but they declined to comment.