Ice cream punishment for students with poor attendance

Top Stories

Ice cream punishment for students with poor attendance

One angry mother of a sobbing 7-year-old suggested some pupils only missed out on the treat due to sickness.

By Web Report

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Tue 17 Jul 2018, 5:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 17 Jul 2018, 7:17 PM

In a 'sweet' punishment to students with lower attendance, a Liverpool school distributed free ice-creams to those with 97 per cent and above attendance.
According to a report in Mirror, Not only students, but the teachers also enjoyed the end-of-term 'rewards' as those with 'bad' attendance watched on with tears in their eyes.
However, post the cruel decision the Blackmoor Park Infants School faced backlash from angry parents and issued an apology for the distress caused, admitting 'a lack of sensitivity in the sharing of these rewards'. Its Chair of Governors, M Greenway, said the issue had been addressed in-house, adding: "As a school we have got this wrong."
One angry mother of a sobbing 7-year-old girl suggested some pupils only missed out on the treat due to sickness. She alleged a teacher told one child: "You're not getting one as you didn't get enough attendance with being off with chicken pox."
One outraged mother was quoted in Mirror Online as saying, "Children were saying 'Mmmmm, these are nice." She admitted that her little girl has been off a few times most recently because of her own hospitalisation.
Another parent expressed her anger on Facebook and wrote: "Children sat in front of others, who were denied getting one (ice-cream), and ate it in front of them! Singling out pupils was 'an absolute disgrace'."
While the school's head teacher, Jo Hitchmough, said, "Like every other school across the country we have a duty to promote good attendance and reduce absence. Good attendance at school is something we celebrate on a regular basis at Blackmoor and we provide a range of incentives that recognise this."
In her letter, Greenway said the school's overall attendance has dropped from the last academic year from 96 per cent to 94 per cent. "School felt that this should be celebrated as they have met their targets and should be proud."  


More news from