Schoolgirl, 8, ‘told to take cheese sandwich out of the bin and eat it’

A mum says her daughter was forced to eat a cheese sandwich that she had thrown in the bin at her school.

Cianna-Rae, 8, didn’t want to eat the butty because it was ‘tasteless’ so chucked it away but a staff member at Osborne Primary School in Birmingham made her fish it out and eat it.

Her mum, Seteasha, told Birmingham Live she was ‘disgusted’ at what happened and is looking at potentially moving her child to another school.

She says the school hasn’t apologised and has only said the sandwich wasn’t contaminated because it was wrapped up at the time.

‘Not even a dog gets treated like that’, she said, ‘Why was she told to take it out of the bin and eat it?

‘The school hasn’t apologised. They just said the sandwiches were wrapped, therefore the food hadn’t been contaminated.

‘But, at the end of the day, it’s still a bin. There’s still bacteria on the outside of the packaging.’

In a statement, the school said the lunchtime supervisor on duty at the time had acted because they were concerned that the pupils weren’t eating their lunch.

They say the school’s menu will change to ensure pupils get a lunch that they will enjoy.

A spokesperson said: ‘We have taken the time to investigate after this concern was raised, to understand the circumstances and establish what can be learned in terms of improving the children’s lunchtime options and experience.

‘We have also tried to keep the parents of all the children informed.

‘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.

‘Osborne is committed to an inclusive policy which ensures everyone is treated equally and fairly regardless of gender, trans, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, physical or mental disability.’

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