Did a school in Westcliff On Sea ban English flags and team shirts ahead of the World Cup in Russia? No, that's not true: the school doesn't exist and the story was made up by a satire website. No need to get angry or upset, the story is not real and did not happen.
The story appeared in an article published by the Southend News Network on June 7, 2018 titled "School BANS ENGLAND FLAGS ahead of the World Cup for 'safety reasons'" (archived here) which opened:
Parents with children at Perry Neil Primary School in Westcliff On Sea have been describing their ANGER to Southend News Network after the headteacher sent an email saying that children have been BANNED from bringing England flags into school during the World Cup.
The ban has also been extended to England shirts ahead of the World Cup in Russia.
According to the lengthy message that was sent out, the 'barmy' decision has been made over fears that the crosses of St George could lead to complaints from some parents.
We asked headteacher Dr Colin Throop to explain his reasons for the 'over the top' banning of England flags and anything else depicting the cross of St George.
Excitable social media users who only saw this summary might have gotten angry or upset about it:
School BANS ENGLAND FLAGS ahead of the World Cup for 'safety reasons'
Parents with children at Perry Neil Primary School in Westcliff On Sea have been describing their ANGER to Southend News Network after the headteacher sent an email saying that children have been BANNED from bringing England flags into school during the World Cup. The ban has also been extended to England shirts ahead of the ...
But there is no "Perry Neil Primary School" in Westcliff On Sea. The closest thing we could find was a trucking company in Southend that has somebody by the name "Perry Neil" listed as a director. And Colin Throop is a roof repair company in Leicester.
The Southend News Network is a satirical site pretending to be a news organisation by the English coast in Southend. They have a disclaimer on their about page that reads (in part):
Southend News Network was originally started in October 2015 with no real aims or objectives in mind other than to add a satirical/spoof-like touch to issues that people are passionate about in Southend On Sea. Above all else, SNN is all about having the occasional 'dig' at the powers that be, as well a slightly bigger and more frequent 'dig' at certain elements of local media!
Several of their stories have been mistaken for real news in the past and the site was recognized by the local authorities as an "official news outlet".
We wrote about southendnewsnetwork.net before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Man Did NOT Die After Being Overcome By Smell Of Scented Soaps In Lush
- Fake News: Thousands Did NOT Protest On The Streets After Arrest Of Tony Robinson
- Fake News: 500,000 Obese Children Did NOT Sign Petition For Jamie Oliver To Just F*ck Off
- Fake News: Royal Wedding NOT Cancelled, Meghan Markle NOT Deported
- Fake News: EU Did NOT Force Ice Cream Vans To Replace Chimes With Recorded Diabetes Warning
