Parents angry after children with lower attendance denied equal ice cream treat during heatwave at Banbury primary school​​​​​​​

Parents who contacted the Banbury Guardian yesterday (Monday) on the first day of extreme heat, described the policy as a ‘form of bullying’ and said it applied to children as young as two years old.

The head teacher, Dawn Shilston, said the timing of the ice cream reward and the heatwave was incidental and that no child went without a cold treat.

She said the policy of rewarding good attendance had been in place for seven years and was a bid to improve the education and life chances of the children.

One parent told the newsdesk that children who are too young to attend school full time are included in the division.

"To me it is a form of bullying. How do you explain to a tiny child why they cannot have an ice cream while their classmates can?” she said.

Another parent wrote: “It can’t be good to set kids apart from each other by giving some a better ice than another.

"It’s usually the parents’ fault if the kids don’t go to school but the kids are getting punished. It will just cause them to take it out on each other and dislike the teachers doing it. I can’t see how that will help them. It’s just unkind.”

Ms Shilston said: “We’ve had this policy in place for seven years. There are rewards for good attendance. The ice creams are for the summer term and we do it because we have a real battle with attendance. (The children) need to be in school.

"What's caused this (outburst) is the extreme heat and the media hype about the heatwave.”

Ms Shilston said the children with attendance over 96 per cent sit on the field in the shade and have their 99 ice cream, though this was in the hall yesterday because of the extreme temperatures. Children with lower attendance were given an ice pop separately in their classrooms.

"It's literally to improve the attendance and something the governors have agreed. It's a positive thing and it's well advertised. It's nothing new and it didn't cause disturbance.

“I'm doing everything I can to improve attendance. A lot of schools do similar things. I'm passionate about children's education. It's their future life chances, I'm looking at the bigger picture. We're trying to encourage the parents to send children in, particularly after the pandemic which has had a real impact on the children’s education.“Some parents aren't happy but we've had very few parents complain in the past. I’ve been out and bought 400 ice pops today to ensure there is a plentiful supply.”