A HEADTEACHER has defended his decision to carry on with a sports day on the hottest day of the year.

Christopher Whitehead Language College held its sports day on Tuesday when temperatures in the city rocketed to 32C, making it hotter than Barcelona, Cancun in Mexico and Bridgetown in Barbados.

Neil Morris, the school's head, said it was a "brutally hot" day but said the school had taken steps to minimise the dangers of the heat.

That included bringing the time of events forward, advising children to wear hats and sunscreen and shade under umbrellas, putting up gazebos, giving out free water and inviting an ice cream van along.

However, one parent complained, saying the sports day, which was held on the King's School's playing field, should have been cancelled.

Mr Morris said: "We moved it to the morning.

"We always start at noon and end at 3pm but we moved it to 9am to noon because we were trying to be proactive.

"Staff were putting up gazebos from 7am so there was shelter there for everybody.

"There was free water.

"It was hot, brutally hot, but we had a great time.

"There were sports day records. It was a really nice day.

"We all came back and extended lunchtime and gave everyone water to make sure they were hydrated."

At the sports day, one boy was taken to hospital by ambulance with a hamstring injury but Mr Morris said, to his knowledge, no-one suffered any ill-effects from the heat.

He added: "I don't think we should have cancelled it.

"I've only ever cancelled one in my 13 years when it was a real deluge and it would have been miserable and I felt really sorry."

"A lot of organisation has gone into this event.

"A lot of kids had a brilliant time."

"When pupils come from primary school they become students and there's a meaning to that change.

"We want to encourage self-reliant, happy, skilled young people who are ready for the outside world."

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