Classroom ban on fruit juice sparks mum’s anger (From York Press)

Classroom ban on fruit juice sparks mum’s anger

9:02am Monday 3rd October 2011 in News By Haydn Lewis , haydn.lewis@thepress.co.uk

A MUM has hit out at a York school’s decision not to allow her daughter to drink juice in the classroom.

Liz Norburn’s seven-year-old daughter, Jessica Hooton, is a pupil at Yearsley Grove Primary School in Huntington and has a doctor’s note to say that, because she suffers from bad cystitis and urine infections, she must drink fluids regularly.

Ms Norburn said that although the school allows pupils to drink water in class, her daughter will only drink water with juice diluted in it, and if she doesn’t drink she can be left in pain and discomfort.

She said: “I only send her with a very weak diluted drink, but she has to leave it outside the classroom, as only water is allowed.

“I feel like Jessica is being singled out and she’s been really upset by it.

“If she was in a wheelchair you wouldn’t ask her to leave it outside the classroom door, why ask my daughter to leave her juice in her bag?”

Ann Burn, head teacher at Yearsley Grove, said although she could not comment on the individual case, the school encouraged children to drink plenty of water.

She said the school had a policy where children were invited to take a bottle of water into the classroom which they could drink from at all times, but juice was not allowed.

Mrs Burn said: “Bottles of juice are not allowed in classrooms because when spilt, juice causes a sticky mess which can be hard to clean up in carpeted areas.

“However, children can bring juice and leave it on the packed lunch trolley found in an uncarpeted area outside their classroom.

“They can drink this at lesson breaks and lunchtimes, and at other times with the permission of their teacher.

“This policy has been operating for many years without previous complaint.

“Should any child have a health condition which requires them to drink a specific amount of fluid at regular intervals, we would treat this as an official medical procedure to be carried out under supervision in the medical room.”