Mum fumes as school tells son, 7, he’s only allowed one bottle of squash during UK heatwave

A mum claims her son was told by a teacher at school that he was only allowed one bottle of squash on the hottest day of the year.

Bryony Cappleman, 34, sent Jacob, seven, to class on Monday (18 July) with three 500ml bottles of Robinson’s squash because he is not keen on water.

But when she went to pick him up, he said he had been told by teachers that he could only consume one bottle of juice that day.

The shocked mum said this left her son dehydrated on one of the hottest days of the year, when temperatures hit highs of 37C across much of the UK.

Nurse Bryony immediately messaged Wheatcroft Community Primary School to complain and find out what had happened.

‘He won’t drink water’

It is understood that staff replied to Bryony’s message and reiterated the school’s health rules, which apparently state that squash is only allowed at certain times of the day.

Water, on the other hand, can be drunk at all times, but the 34-year-old claims her son “won’t drink water”.

The mum-of-two said: “I just can’t get my head round it to be honest.

"They’ve compromised on uniform policy because of the weather, so why can’t they compromise on this?"

Bryony claims that Jacob has not been keen on water all of his life so, as a compromise, she makes him a weak squash drink every day to take to his primary school in their hometown of Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

She says this does not usually conflict with the school rules, which states that pupils are allowed to drink one juice or squash bottle with their lunch each day.

But due to the extremely hot weather, Bryony said she decided one bottle of squash would not be enough for Jacob, so she packed him three to take to school that day instead.

When he came home, she found he had only drunk one of the bottles - apparently because the rules had not changed, despite the sweltering heat.

The mum claims that Jacob had drunk nowhere near enough as a result and has been left unsatisfied with the school’s response after making a complaint.

She said: "Jacob won’t drink water, and to get round it, I make him a very weak, sugar free squash to take with him to school. And, it was roasting yesterday, so of course he needed more than just the one bottle.

"But to drink more than one goes against the school’s ‘health’ policy and he was literally banned from drinking any more.

"How can a school claim to be upholding healthy standards when my son was dehydrated as a result of their rules - it’s a disgrace.

"I’m a nurse and the amount of global admissions hospitals get from dehydrated children and elderly people during this kind of weather is frightening.

"I would understand if it was Red Bull or Monster Energy, but it’s not - it’s a family drink.

"I’ve kept him home from school today because I’d rather have him somewhere where I know he’s drinking during this hot weather - it’s really frustrating."

What did the school say?

Responding to Bryony’s complaint, the school said that Jacob had been seen filling up his water bottle and "was seen drinking from that bottle throughout the rest of the day by staff in the classroom".

In a statement, a spokesperson for Wheatcroft Community Primary School said: “The pupil in question brought three bottles of juice into school

"During the morning he drank one 500ml bottle whilst in class. He requested a second bottle and a member of staff suggested he refilled his bottle with water and save his second bottle for packed lunch.

"The pupil filled up his water bottle with water and was seen drinking from that bottle throughout the rest of the day by staff in the classroom.

"All our children have access to cold water to drink or fill up their water bottles with throughout the day.

"All pupils are encouraged to bring their own water bottles and as a healthy school we encourage children to drink water in class, at playtimes and PE lessons to stay hydrated."