Teachers 'took money from pupils to buy alcohol'

A group of teachers who took money from the wallets of pupils on a school trip to buy alcohol have been criticised by parents. Staff from Bishop's Stortford High School took €5 from each Year 7 student during a school trip to France, it is alleged.

The teachers had been entrusted with the 11-year-olds' spending money but used the cash they took to buy beer for their journey home. Andrew Goulding, headmaster of the comprehensive school in Hertfordshire, promised to return the money but parents have demanded further action.

"Some families only sent their kids off with €20 to begin with, so €5 is quite a big chunk out of that," said one mother, who did not wish to be named. "It's not so much the amount of money as the principle – they took our children's money without their knowledge or consent, and I don't think that's right."



In a letter to parents Mr Goulding said: "This is clearly a practice I cannot condone and the matter has been dealt with internally within the school. "I have not taken this matter lightly and the school will of course refund the sum of €5 to each parent who wishes us to do so."

Hertfordshire county council has said it will look into the claims. A spokeswoman said: "No complaints have been made to the local authority. Having been made aware of the situation we will be discussing it with the head teacher and investigating fully to determine with the school what exactly happened."

A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Police said it would launch a theft investigation if it received any complaints from parents.