A LITTLE boy cried all night after a teacher poured away his squash during a 28C heatwave – leaving him with a headache, his furious mum says.

Stephanie Lapham hit out at her five-year-old's primary school in Bristol after his squash was replaced with water.

The 34-year-old said son Rocky refuses to drink anything but blackcurrant squash, and returned home feeling dehydrated and poorly.

And she accused staff at Blackhorse Primary School of "child neglect" after the drink was poured down the sink.

School chiefs have now apologised – but backed their stance over squash.

They've given Rocky seven weeks to bring in his own drinks before insisting he follows the water-only policy after half-term.

Ms Lapham told Bristol Live: "Rocky returned to school on Monday after the summer holidays and went into Year One with a new teacher.

"He came home from school on Tuesday complaining of a headache all evening, really upset and holding his head.

"He has speech and language development issues, so when he was crying and told me on Tuesday night that his teacher had poured his drink down the sink, I thought he must have got that wrong.

"As I was dropping him off to school the next day, l thought I'd quickly pop over to check with the teacher, and she said, 'Yeah, that's right — school policy is water.'"

She said Rocky "had been crying all night".

"It's sugar free, but it's nothing to do with her anyway," she said.

"It's a sealed bottle and she went out of her way to look inside. They're there to learn."

She said she considered refusing to let Rocky return to class before complaining to head Simon Botten.

I've been told to wean him off. He's not a drug addict – it's ridiculous

"They put different options on the dinner menu because children are fussy," she said.

"You could understand it more if I was giving him Red Bull or Coca Cola, but it's a bit of squash."

Discussions with the school left her "really quite upset and close to tears", she said.

"The head told me the policy will not change under any circumstances and I'm to 'wean him off'," she said.

"Rocky's not a drug addict. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Mr Botten told the publication many parents choose to send their children there because of an emphasis on health and wellbeing.

'IT CAUSES TOOTH DECAY'

"We are very proud of this culture we have created and therefore look to ensure that our children are taught about healthy diets from an early age," he said.

"Like every other school in the local area, and on the advice of the NHS school nurses, Blackhorse has a long-standing policy of only allowing children to bring water in their water bottles.

"This is because children are allowed to drink from their water bottles throughout the day and sipping on squash throughout the day is known to cause tooth decay."

And he said the teacher was "following school policy" by throwing the squash away.

"We discussed Ms Lapham’s concerns with her when she told her that Rocky hadn’t drunk the water provided on a hot day," he said.

"I apologised that the school’s policy hadn’t been clearly communicated to her and that Rocky was left thirsty."

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