A furious mum has criticised her son's Stoke-on-Trent school after he was allegedly asked to put his lunch back because he had no money on his school account.
Mum, Kelly Bowman, hit out at Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy after the incident took place on a recent school day.
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Kelly's 14-year-old son had collected his lunch for the day as normal, but when he went to pay using his account he learned he didn't have enough money to pay for the food.
Kelly, aged 41, from Blurton, said: “I had given him a £10 top-up a few days earlier but he must have used more than he thought. He didn’t have enough on his account."
According to GoodToKnow, the average cost of school lunches in 2023 is around £2.40 a day, which works out to £12 a week for children having a school lunch every day.
Prices can vary depending on the region in which the school is located, and whether it's a primary or secondary school.
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According to Kelly, her son told her that the lunchtime supervisor told him to 'put the meal back' when it emerged he didn't have the money to pay for it.
"The dinner hall was full of people, he felt stupid," Kelly said.
The mum alleged the school failed to contact her about her son's account being low on money, meaning the teenager was left to go hungry at lunchtime.
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“If they had contacted us to say he hadn’t got enough money, we would have credited it straight away, but we were unaware," she said. "How many children are not having a meal if this happens? I think it’s disgusting.
“Children don’t think about whether they have got enough money. He was starving when he got home."
Kelly believes the school should have allowed her son to eat the meal and taken the money he owed from his account the next time it was topped up.
In response to Kelly's criticism, the Beaconsfield Drive school has apologised to the student.
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A spokesperson from Ormiston Academies Trust, which operates the school, commented: “We are in ongoing liaison with a student and his family following this matter. We have since apologised to the student and are providing continued support.
“We have also spoken with our external catering provider to guarantee more leeway for students, and we have updated our internal processes so that parents are automatically informed if their child is running low on credit.”
Some children in the UK are eligible for free school lunches; you can find out if your child is eligible for the programme here.
Tyla has contacted Ormiston Academies Trust for comment.
Topics: Food and Drink, Parenting
Emily Brown