A furious parent has complained after her son's teacher confiscated his drink of water on one of the hottest days of the year - because it was in the wrong type of bottle.
However Edmund De Moundeford Primary School in Feltwell defended asking nine-year-old Jack Stenhouse to put his drink on a table outside the classroom because it was in a screw-top bottle, instead of a flip-top one - saying it was designed to prevent spillages.
Although he was able to take sips at lunchtime, his mother Tracey Cousins said Jack was left feeling dehydrated - so much so that he thirstily downed a can of fizzy drink and two cups of water when he visited the hairdresser straight after school.
'When he got home he was constantly drinking,' she said, after being told at the start of the school day that he could not have the bottle in class.
'He said he felt sick because it was so hot and because of not having enough to drink at school.'
When Miss Cousins phoned headteacher Julie Lillycrop to remonstrate the day after the incident on Wednesday, June 21, she was told the rule was designed to prevent spillages on children's work.
Mrs Lillycrop told this newspaper that pupils 'have good access to water in school, including in lessons' and that: 'We encourage children to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
'We give access to water bottles which are stored on trolleys, so that they can be easily moved at lunchtime and to prevent spillages of water on children's work.
'If children have drinks bottles with tops that prevent spillages, some staff allow these bottles on their desks.'
However Miss Cousins, a single parent who lives with her son in Edmund Moundford Road in Feltwell, near Thetford, said she thought the rule was 'ridiculous'.
The 42-year-old added: 'If it's a flip-top bottle, that can just as easily spill.
'I was fuming because the weather was really, really hot. It made me angry.'
Miss Cousins kept her son off school the following day to recover - but was told this would be marked as an unauthorised absence.
She has now bought a set of flip-top bottles so her son can use them in class.
What do you think of Edmund De Moundeford Primary School's decision to ban screw-top bottles from the classroom? Write, giving your full contact details, to andrew.papworth@archant.co.uk
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