Mum left furious after school refused to give child slice of toast as she didn't have 20p

A mother was left fuming after her child was denied a slice of toast by the school over a debt of 20p fee for the half term.

The six-year-old girl was refused by her primary school while her classmates enjoyed the mid-morning snack.

The mother was always known to have paid the 20p-a-day fee but forgot to pay the rest of the term, as she discovered on the first day back after the half-term holiday.

The mother turned to mumsnet for advice and support online, where she wrote: "They gave every single child a slice of toast besides my daughter. I have never forgotten before. Could they not have just put a note in her book bag as a reminder? Or sent a text."

However, she has now paid the total remaining cost online, including the money for the day she missed.

Pexels

The furious mother of the six-year-old questioned the ethics of the school in her Mumsnet post, asking if the 'school should have been more understanding'.

Though the mother admitted that it was her fault, she asked: "Is it fair to single them out? Toast for you, toast for you, NO toast for you, toast for you…."

While some criticised the primary school's actions, while other parents blatantly blamed the mother for her forgetfulness.

One mum replied: "I hate this, children should never be excluded regardless, it's awful."

A second said: "That seems very insensitive of them."

While the third user said: "We always give kids free toast at the school I work at if they have no money on their account."

One user was quick to give a piece of her own mind to the mother, saying: "They probably get people habitually forgetting to pay. This is your fault, not the schools."

Someone else advised: "It's a snack, not a meal. I assume if the parent hadn't paid for a meal then they would cobble something together so the child wouldn't go without."

And a different reply confirmed: "They probably thought you didn't want school snacks this term. I work in school and around half of all classes bring their own snack. They probably assumed as you hadn't paid for the start of term you were doing this."

Nevertheless, with the parent paying the remaining amount for the term, her child won't go without a slice of toast for the foreseeable future.

Topics: Parenting, Life

Rashi Agarwal