Child's birthday cake treat banned by school

13 April 2012

It should have been a piece of cake. All little Emma Matthews wanted to do was celebrate her sixth birthday at school with a nice chocolate sponge.

But before the primary two pupil could divide up the tasty treat among her hungry classmates, teachers stepped in and declared the tempting confection a health risk.

Emma's parents had bought the cake in a local shop and then went to some trouble to decorate it with extra icing and chocolate buttons for the pupils at St Bride's Primary School in Bothwell, Lanarkshire.

However, teachers told the astonished youngster that because the original packaging had been opened it breached health and safety rules and they couldn't let anyone else eat it.

Instead, Emma was the only pupil allowed to have a slice while the rest of her class were given a fairy cake.

A note Emma brought home from school said: "I am sorry to inform you that we are unable to use Emma's birthday cake due to the fact that it was not sealed in the box.

"This is health and safety guidelines. We lit the candles, sang happy birthday and gave Emma a piece of the cake. We gave the others a small fairy cake."

Yesterday, Emma's mother, Lorraine Matthews, 36, and father Peter Little, 41, said they were flabbergasted by the school's actions.

"Emma came out of school carrying the cake and she was really upset," said mother-of-two Mrs Matthews. "She had wanted all her friends to have a bit of it and she was really looking forward to her birthday.

"I was so shocked when she gave me the letter. This is just health and safety rules gone crazy. I got the cake from the supermarket. It was just a plain chocolate cake and Emma's dad had taken it out of the box to put icing and chocolate buttons on it.

"How could it have been safe for Emma to eat but not any of the other kids? The school never have a problem with parents preparing cakes when we are asked to make them for bring and buy sales and things like that so why now?

"We had a party for Emma when she came home from school but this put a damper on it. The rules should be changed."

Mrs Matthews has received support from other parents with children at the school who claimed it was yet another example of "political correctness" at the expense of common sense.

One mother, who declined to be named, said: "This whole thing is just unbelievable. Earlier this month, the other primary school in Bothwell sent out letters saying chestnuts were now banned in school. What's next? The only nuts in schools these days seem to be the ones running them."

Last night, a spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council, which is in charge of health and safety issues at state-run St Bride's, said: "Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on this individual issue as the school is closed for the October holiday break.

"However, it is likely that the school would want to know if the cake contained nuts in order to ensure children with a 'nut allergy' were not at risk.

"The school does encourage teachers and classes to celebrate birthdays and will continue to do so but extra care has now got to be taken when sharing sweets and cakes with other children.

"We recognise that Emma and her parents are disappointed but we hope they understand the reasons for the school's decision."

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