A SCHOOL has defended itself after a social media post criticising it for running ‘Meat Free Monday’ went viral earlier this week.

Commenters expressed outrage online after the school ran the scheme following COP26 - but headteacher Simon Jackson said that the post misinformed the public about the initiative.

In the post, the parent said: “Shame on you Keswick School for doing Meat Free Mondays.

“I thought as the teachers educating the future of this society you would have at least got your facts right and not taken away freedom of choice to our children.

“If it’s all to do with climate control then even bigger shame on you as you are in the heart of the agricultural industry and the produce is basically on your doorstep.

“How about supporting the local industry instead of trying to help destroy it.”

But the school has defended the day, saying that it was a one-off brought in as an idea by the school council to raise awareness of climate change.

Headteacher Mr Jackson said: “We have been made aware of some negative misinformation that has been spread about the school on social media. Sadly, fake news exists within our community and we try to educate our students about this but have no control about what other people write about the school.

“Just to be clear, the school council made a decision to run one meat-free lunchtime this term.

“They felt it was important as part of a raft of measures to raise awareness about climate change across the school following COP26. This was communicated to students last week.

“As a democratically-elected body they have a mandate to make decisions on behalf of the student community and then review them. There is no intention to make this a weekly occurrence and this was not communicated. It was a one-off lunch on one occasion.

“The student council make many decisions on behalf of the student community and we place a high importance on student voice at Keswick School.

“It is also important to highlight that we use local produce in school and by doing so we support the local economy. We use Caterite as our food supplier and have an excellent relationship with them.”

He said that ‘false statements’ have also been spread online regarding Covid testing and vaccinations, and added: “Such comments are entirely unnecessary.”