[Ammi]

A father has taken both of his children out of a Devon primary school after one was refused lunch because the family owed £1.75.

Gary Lynn, who has also resigned as a governor at Hayes Primary School in Paignton, accused the school of "physical and emotional neglect" reminiscent of Oliver Twist.

He said his 11-year-old-son, Jacob, was in tears after being refused the meal.

The school said its kitchen staff were "abiding by the rules".

Mr Lynn accused the school of creating a policy which "looks at using a child as a weapon in case any parent dares to default on a single day's payment".

He said: "When he was expecting to get served he was told he wouldn't be allowed a meal. He burst into tears.

"He went to sit down and one of the mealtime assistants brought over an apple because she felt sorry for him.

"I was completely outraged. I hadn't had any teacher come to tell me there was an issue. I found it horrific."

In an internal response, seen by BBC News, Sean Hindle, business manager at the academy-status school, said: "The kitchen were abiding by school rules.

"They normally phone parents to let them know that their account doesn't have any money, and that their child won't get a lunch that day unless the account is credited."

Mr Lynn said: "I hold my hand up. I usually put £10 on at a time. That's my fault. But for them to take that course of action with my son seems incredible."

He added he was searching for an alternative school.

Hayes Primary School, Paignton Hayes Primary School said it regretted the distress the incident caused
Katherine Tompkins, the head teacher of Tor Bridge Primary School in Plymouth, said: "We don't use the same payment system. We wouldn't have refused the child a meal.

"We would have made all efforts to ensure they had something to eat."

Veronica Prior, the kitchen manager at St Mary's School in Plympton, Devon, said: "I would never let any of the children go out of that hall without food. I think it's pretty disgusting. Whoever did it should be sacked."

A statement released by the school's governors said the rule was introduced to prevent "significant numbers of previous occurrences of late payments and bad debts on school meals".

It went on to say: "Mr and Mrs Lynn were notified on three occasions prior to the mealtime of interest that their debt was due and that their son would not receive a meal if the debt remained unpaid."

Mr Lynn said the first time he was told about the problem was last Friday.

The school said while it regretted the distress the incident had caused, it was "disappointed that it has been portrayed by this parent to have been fully responsible for withholding a meal from him".

[Niamh.]

awww the poor kid although tbf if the parents were already told that this would happen and they still never paid, it's their own fault really

[AnnieK]

The parents should have paid but surely, they could have provided him with a basic meal...no child should be allowed to go hungry whilst under school supervision? That seems very harsh on the child...

[Benjamin]

Stupid parents, they clearly did know and just thought nothing would come of it. I feel sorry for the child but the parents are accountable for this, not the school.

[Jack_]

This is what happens when you run a society that puts profit before people (in this case a child)

One pound ****ing seventy five

[Me. I Am Salman]

Disgusting

[Vicky.]

Parents should have paid but its terrible to make the child go with nothing at all. Especially over £1.75

[Ninastar]

it's harsh and everything, but they can't just give one kid a free lunch because he's not brought money. Imagine how many kids do this every day, either the one off chance they've forgotten money, or this is something that happens regularly. You let one kid get away with it an then you have to let all of them get away with it... which can then be pretty expensive

[Shaun]

That's just around the corner from me. Oh dear.

[lostalex]

It doesn't say what they were serving that day. Maybe it wasn't even anything good.

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Salman!

Disgusting

and cruel

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

it's harsh and everything, but they can't just give one kid a free lunch because he's not brought money. Imagine how many kids do this every day, either the one off chance they've forgotten money, or this is something that happens regularly. You let one kid get away with it an then you have to let all of them get away with it... which can then be pretty expensive

Are you taking the p*ss?

[Ninastar]

oh absolutely, i typed that all out to take a giant piss

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

oh absolutely, i typed that all out to take a giant piss

Wow, you're scary. We're talking about kids here.

[Ninastar]

i'm scary? what...

and yes, i read the article. I work with kids 9 years younger than him and if a parent doesn't pay for their lunch/tea whatever, they don't get anything. What can I do about it? Nothing. If the parent hasn't paid it's their own fault. a school can't pay for a child every single time they forget to bring money.

[Tom4784]

It is ridiculous, if the parents had amounted a huge debt then yeah I wouldn't blame the school but denying a kid some food over £1.75? Are they that tight fisted that they couldn't whip up some sandwiches for him at least?

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

i'm scary? what...

and yes, i read the article. I work with kids 9 years younger than him and if a parent doesn't pay for their lunch/tea whatever, they don't get anything. What can I do about it? Nothing. If the parent hasn't paid it's their own fault. a school can't pay for a child every single time they forget to bring money.

...then you give them the goddamn food and write letters to/phone the parents asking for the money, and if they continue not to give it to you you take the issue to a small claims court. No one's saying these parents shouldn't have to pay but what kind of culture are we being brought up into where £1.75 is more important than feeding a ****ing child? It's disgraceful

[Ammi]

..I've never personally known a child not to be given a meal at school, even without lunch money, which happens quite frequently but I think that's the problem with academy schools, they're mainly profit making and not so much for education...

[Alf]

What ever happened to common sense?

Surely any person with common sense would have just fed the child and then got in touch with the parent to find out why he hasn't paid.

Or am I being ridiculous?

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Ammi

I think that's the problem with academy schools, they're mainly profit making and not so much for education...

[Ninastar]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..I've never personally known a child not to be given a meal at school, even without lunch money, which happens quite frequently but I think that's the problem with academy schools, they're mainly profit making and not so much for education...

Sadly I think that's 100% true and there's not a lot that staff can do. It's up to the people who run the school to decide whether to feed children who've forgotten their money or not.

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Shaun

[2]

My one turned into an academy in September, and this year Ofsted put us into 'special measures' when before we were doing alright...funny that

And it's a decision barely any of the staff wanted either and lots left because of

[Ammi]

..I think what really annoys me about this is the hypocrisy of providing free school milk/free healthy snacks/breakfasts etc and all of the schemes that have been introduced in the last few years because children can't possibly learn anything if they're hungry and not properly nourished...and yet this is a bit like too 'exes' arguing about who should have done what and who's fault it was without any thought of the child..he's 11 years old, he was crying because he had no lunch..people were alerted to this and knew so regardless of job restrictions/procedures etc...out of compassion and just human responses, someone should have given him something..some leftover stuff/ part of a staff member's lunch....something because one things almost certain, none of it was his fault..and shame on anyone who just ignored that he was hungry or hadn't eaten...

[Ammi]

..and also..all they can think of now, even on reflection is that they're annoyed because the father is blaming it all on the school..well yeah..you're the one's that allowed him to go hungry..take his father to court, hound him with a debt collection agency..hang him from an Oak tree...but feed the child and do that all later, because he is hungry and someone had food, that's for sure..there is always some food...but not a lot of humanity in that school...

[Ammi]

..yeah, you can see I'm very against academy/free schools...really, truly, they're a dreadful idea and will only cause things like this to happen...