“Excellence and enjoyment in equal measure” is the proud motto of Francis Holland School, off Sloane Square — but it seems that for some staff enjoyment slips into over-indulgence. An email leaked to the Londoner reveals that some teachers at the independent girls’ school, whose alumni include Cara Delevingne, Jemima Khan and the violinist and Sochi-skier Vanessa Mae, have been filching pupils’ food. The email came originally from headmistress Lucy Elphinstone.
In it she reprimands staff for “taking food from the lunch bar and putting it in their bags for later” and helping themselves to “up to four or five pieces of fruit from the girls’ bowl in the main dining room. We simply cannot afford to provide staff with afternoon snacks and evening meals as well”.
Elphinstone also scolds the staff’s carnivores for scoffing all the vegetarian options. But who could resist the canteen’s offer of “sauté courgettes and fennel”, or “Sichuan pepper and smoked tofu stir-fry”?
