Thornaby Academy slammed after 'shocking' £1.65 pizza

Thornaby Academy, located on Baysdale Road, has been criticized for serving single pizza slices for the "steep" price of £1.65. 

A viral photo of the pizza in question has garnered a massive reaction online - with people sharing their own experiences with the "terrible" school dinners.

This backlash comes as campaigners fight for higher quality school meals because childhood obesity rates continue to climb, and poor quality food leaves students unable to effectively engage in lessons. 

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A mother, who lives in Stockton, said: "My son is six and gets school meals. He picks the cold meal option and all he gets is two slices of bread, some filling, and a cookie as a meal.

"He isn't a big eater at all, but even he says that it's not filling."

Another woman said: "This is absolutely shocking! Prisoners get fed better than this at the taxpayer's expense, then parents have to pay for school dinners and get fed this c**p. How is this fair."

The viral picture of Thornaby Academy's £1.65 'tragic' pizza. PICTURE: Contributor (Image: Contributor)

Some parents have also claimed that the quality of school dinners has decreased since they were at school.

A father wrote: "I remember being in primary school about 35 years ago, and the school dinners were basic but great. 

"Mince with mash and veg, corned beef pie with veg - all basic but far better than this muck, and all made fresh, too."

Another man said: "Dinners were the best back in the day - we had three options; salad, main meal, and snack. 

"We got the option of milk on a morning with a warm doughnut as well."

One man quipped: "I don't think this is quite what Jamie Oliver had in mind."

Thornaby Academy's mac & cheese. PICTURE: Contributor (Image: Contributor)

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Currently, campaigners up and down the country are fighting for higher quality school meals for all children. 

The "Give a Sausage" campaign, backed by well-known culinary stars from Tom Kerridge to Prue Leith, is aiming for all kids to have access to good school dinners. 

They aim to do this by training school kitchen teams and reducing the amount of processed food on offer.

This comes as 60 percent of secondary schools are failing to meet the school food standard outlined by the government in May, with one in three children leaving school overweight or obese (The National Centre for Social Research). 

In response, Thornaby Academy said: The academy is disappointed to learn of a possible issue regarding its new catering supplier Mellors, as this matter had not been raised directly with the school.

"The academy has a clear policy on the use of mobile phones by students during the day which are not allowed.

"Thornaby Academy takes standards of school catering and compliance with food school standards seriously and will be investigating the matter in conjunction with the caterers. Mellors however, have already apologised unreservedly."

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