Blackburn school responds to claim children were denied lunch

The parent, who contacted the Lancashire Telegraph having said they did not receive a response from Blackburn Central High School, said their 12-year-old daughter was among the eight students held back by a maths teacher.

They said the children were ‘denied’ their lunch while the teacher ate their lunch in front of the students.

Blackburn Central High School (Image: Archive/BCHS)

However, the school said the children were put in detention due to misbehaviour and that they had more than enough time at the end of this to eat their lunch.

Shanaz Hussain, the school’s headteacher, said: “We have high expectations of our students at Blackburn Central High School and encourage them to make the right choices. On this occasion, the students in question were kept back for a lunchtime detention due to their misbehaviour.

“Lunchtime detentions run for 15 minutes at the beginning of lunch, with adequate time left over at the end for them to eat their packed lunch or go to the canteen to buy food. They are not refrained from having lunch in any way.

“Teachers often have additional duties after running detentions and so need to eat their lunch during this time.

Headteacher Shanaz Hussain (Image: Archive/BCHS)

“I was very disappointed to hear that the parent has stated that we have not responded to their concerns as I have been in touch with them, as have several other staff at BCHS, on various occasions.

“Should they wish to discuss any matters further we are always contactable and pride ourselves on being an open and transparent school.”

The parent claims they did not receive any response from the school regarding their concerns, and said they were not sent the complaints procedure having asked the school twice.