SCHOOLS have warned students not to skip classes to attend a mass climate change rally, saying it could be unsafe for the youngsters.

Thousands of young people across the country will be making history as they take part in the UK’s first school strike for climate action, called UK Youth Strike 4 Climate. Brighton’s young people will be protesting at the Clocktower at 11am today.

Not all schools agree their students should sacrifice class time for the green crusade. A spokeswoman from Cardinal Newman Catholic School, in The Upper Drive, Hove, said: “We support the need to tackle climate change and its devastating effects. However, we cannot support student attendance at this protest because we have looked into the co-ordination of the protests and have no assurances that student safety can be guaranteed.

“The event co-ordinators have not publicly outlined their protest route and have planned the gathering in a heavily congested part of the city.

“We do not want our students missing out on their learning. We will therefore not authorise any student absence to attend the protest. We have an enriching geography curriculum which teaches the issue of climate change and it encourages our students to develop their ideas about longer term solutions.”

Blatchington Mill School, in Nevill Avenue, Hove, is calling for parents to not encourage their children to skip class. Ashley Harrold, headteacher, said: “As a school we support the cause. We have been focusing on climate change as an ever-growing issue with catastrophic consequences.

“However, we cannot support the protest on today.

Read more: Students skip classes for climate change rally in Brighton

"We need students in school. We take care to plan each day of their learning, and we don’t want them to miss out.

“We are not assured that the coordination of the protest is sufficient to ensure student safety as it is located in a congested area of Brighton.

“We feel that the protests are a superficial response to a deep-rooted socio-environmental issue. The protest does not highlight the wider changes required, including government targets, green taxes or student pledges that could have far-reaching consequences in the long-term fight against climate change.”

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