School dinners are famously underwhelming, but one school’s Christmas lunch seems to be in a league of its own, with the offering seen as so “grim” that people are now getting refunds for the £3.50 dish.
In a now-viral tweet, dad Ciaran Walsh shared the paltry offering served up to one of his daughters who attends Steyning Grammar School and Sixth Form College in West Sussex. He sent the tweet to Bohunt Education Trust, which runs the school.
The depressing photo shows a lone pig in a blanket, a cat-food-like sliver of turkey, and a rigid cube of stuffing all served up on a dry bun.
.@Bohunt_Trust thanks for the Christmas lunch served to our kids at Steyning Grammar yesterday, really filled them with festive cheer! 🎄 pic.twitter.com/oTC0bRnleK
— Ciaran Walsh (@mistercw) December 15, 2021
Walsh is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “The impression I got was that most of this stuff went in the bin. For most of the kids, there was this sense of disbelief that that’s what they got.
“You want your kids to have the best and Christmas is a time when a special meal is part of that, and this wasn’t special in the right way.”
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His daughter only ate the mince pie, and Walsh said that the standard of food at the school is typically better.
A similar photo from the same school was shared to a local Facebook group, where commenters compared the meal to “foreskin on a dry bap”, “Soylent Green and something left over from A level anatomy”, and “lichen on dry bread”.
People also compared the meal to “a botched circumcision”, something from Fyre Festival, and an I’m A Celebrity trial.
All good stuff then...
The pigs in blanket looks like a botched circumcision https://t.co/bjM1EuQRVt
— Athena Kugblenu (@athenakugblenu) December 16, 2021
Fyre Festival comes to Sussex https://t.co/nPHo2YfDSR
— WANYΞ (@wayne_douglas) December 16, 2021
Christmas Lunch ?
— Food Man #JATSB (@FoodMan_aka) December 15, 2021
They wouldn't serve that up as a Trial on I'm A Celebrity !
And if they tried it in a prison there would be riots.
Schools though ?
Yeah, that'll be fine.@willquince : As the minister responsible, How is this in any way acceptable ?
This is the state of school meals in this country. Puke worthy. https://t.co/Xm8GLp0Yi3
— Heike and Dino (@TweetHeike_Dino) December 15, 2021
This is clearly not acceptable. I’m glad to see the school has apologised and offered a refund. We expect all schools, including academies, to comply with our mandatory School Food Standards that promote a healthy, balanced diet – not just at Christmas but all year.
— Will Quince MP 🇬🇧 (@willquince) December 15, 2021
The school initially defended the meal, with a letter allegedly claiming that “the overall feedback from students was that they really enjoyed it".
However they later decided to issue refunds.
A school spokesperson told The Guardian that the food wasn’t up to their usual standards, citing supply chain issues and Covid-related staff shortages.
The spokesperson said: “We have now investigated this isolated matter fully and have apologised to all students and parents affected, together with providing a full refund.”
How would you react if this was set down on a table in front of you?
