JERSEY, UK – An annual day of fun turned into a day of disappointment for students at St. George’s Preparatory school in St. Peter when school officials canceled an end-of-the-year beach day.

St. George’s elementary students are typically treated to a half-day of fun in the sun with a beach outing to end the school year. But headmaster Colin Moore opted to cancel this year’s event, scheduled for July 11, because the sun is hot and poses a health risk to students, the Bailiwick Express reports.

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“In recognition of the Jersey Health department’s advice regarding the dangers of the midday sun, it is with considerable regret that I have decided to cancel our annual day on the beach in July,” Moore wrote to parents.

“We are busy trying to organize a less exposed alternative event but believe whatever we do the children’s health must take priority.”

Moore blamed the cancellation on a lack of shade at St. Brelade’s Bay, where the school takes kids for the beach day every year, The Times reports.

“For a class of 20 children, even at the younger ages, you can find shade, perhaps under a tree. If there are concerns, you can call a minibus and go back to the school,” he told the Express. “With over 200 children, however, if you are on the beach for four hours, you are on the beach for four hours, in the hottest part of the day, and you cannot provide shade for 200-plus children.”

The Jersey Health Department clarified that it does not advocate sun avoidance completely, but rather moderation when the sun is most intense.

“HSSD has not provided any advice that would encourage children to completely avoid enjoying the outdoors between the hours of 11 and 3 p.m. when the sun is at its strongest,” Health Improvement chief Martin Knight said.

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“A balance needs to be struck between children gaining the benefits of sun exposure – including a sense of well-being, synthesis of vitamin D and outdoor physical activity – against the dangers of burning.”

BBC reports that the average temperature on the Bailiwick of Jersey – an island and independent Crown Dependency of England – is between 14 and 20 degrees Celsius, or 57 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Moore noted that the school did not cancel other seaside trips, primarily because they involved far fewer students. One class went on a rock-pooling trip this week, the Express reports.