An English Schools Foundation primary school has bowed to parent pressure and reinstated an Outward Bound adventure camp for 120 pupils after trying to replace it with a four-day trip to Shenzhen.
Parents of nine and 10-year-olds at Clearwater Bay School bombarded principal David Fitzgerald with e-mails after learning of the plan to send their children to the border city.
As a result of objections from the majority of parents who responded, the Shenzhen trip was scrapped and on Friday, Mr Fitzgerald wrote to parents saying the camp at Sai Kung was being reinstated.
Parents said they were concerned about their children's safety as well as pollution and hygiene in Shenzhen, and said youngsters were upset at missing out on the Outward Bond activities Year Six pupils enjoyed in previous years.
One of the reasons given to parents by Mr Fitzgerald earlier for switching the annual Year Six trip from Outward Bound to Shenzhen was that hiking and camping, sometimes in harsh weather, was more appropriate for secondary school pupils than nine and 10 year-olds.
In his letter, the principal said changes had been made to the Outward Bound programme, indicating that the November 15-19 camp would be less tough than in previous years in response to complaints from some parents.
