An angry mother is demanding her daughter’s school apologise after she was reportedly told to eat a sandwich she had thrown in the bin.
Eight-year-old Cianna-Rae threw her cheese sandwiches away because she found them “tasteless and the bread hard”, but was allegedly told by a member of staff to take it out.
Her mother Seteasha said she was “absolutely disgusted” after the incident at Osborne Primary School and wants to remove her daughter from the school in Erdington, Birmingham.
The 31 year-old said ‘not even a dog gets treated like that’ and asked why it happened.
The primary school stressed the students’ sandwiches were all securely sealed in clingfilm and then put inside paper bags but has agreed to review the food choices on offer to pupils.
“I sat down but the bread was a bit hard and there wasn’t any butter or anything, it was just plain cheese, so I threw it in the bin and a dinner lady told me to eat it,” Cianna-Rae told Birmingham Live. “I took it out of the bin and when she wasn’t looking I put it back in the bin and then went outside.”
Although the girl’s mother made her concerns known to the headteacher, she felt as though the matter was not taken seriously.
The incident happened in January, but Seteasha claims she was told to wait 10 days for feedback from the school.
Osborne Primary School told Birmingham Live it had investigated the matter to see what lessons could be learned.
A spokesperson said told the site: “The lunchtime supervisor became concerned that the children hadn’t eaten their lunch, which remained unopened. They had chosen cheese sandwiches, which are wrapped in clingfilm and placed inside individual paper bags.
“The school is required to wrap all sandwiches like this as a result of Natasha’s Law, which ensures that food cannot be contaminated. This means that the children’s sandwiches were in no way contaminated by other food. The bin in question is only used to deposit the individual paper bags in.
“However, as a result of the supervisor’s concern, we have identified that the choice of sandwiches on offer to these children was the root of the problem. We have now adapted the menu to provide specific sandwiches for them, to ensure they can have a lunch which they will enjoy.”
The Independent contacted the school for further comment.
