11-year-old Holli McCann was on her end of year school tour when her Mum Kerri got a message to call the school teacher urgently. Kerri thought something terrible had happened to her daughter, and was shocked to find out that it was beaucse Holli had eaten a chocolate bar in her room.
Mum Kerri was furious and had to borrow money to make the trip to collect her daughter, she remarked: “It’s unbelievable. Sent home for eating a chocolate bar — it’s as stupid as it sounds. You’d think the children were running an international drug-smuggling operation!”
Apparently, teachers on the tour had found Holli's hidden chocolate stash when they opened a letter which the child had written to her mum about the trip. They then searched the room and childrens' bags and found the chocolate. Holli says she was 'so upset', she said that they had been told to 'write a letter home and I said me and my friends had a midnight feast'.
The school say it is standard procedure to check the contents of a letter and that they sought permssion before searching the room.
The school had requested that all parents sign a 'behaviour charter' prior to the trip, so that the children had a 'safe and enjoyable holiday'. Kerri says she had signed it months before and remarked:
“How is chocolate unsafe or not enjoyable? We signed a form ages ago and weren’t allowed a copy. I can’t remember what it said.”
Part of the rules included that while children were allowed to bring sweets and snacks, they were not allowed to eat them in their hotel rooms.
Kerri maintains she was told by the head teach to come and collect Holli. The school contests that they said the child could stay under closer supervision but that Kerri decided to come and collect her.
What do you think - did the school overreact? Or should mum Kerri have made sure Holli played by the rules?
