Our students must see that we are all human and make mistakes. Likewise, they should be aware that it isn’t making a mistake that makes one a failure, but rather an ability to learn from our mistakes.
I feel great sympathy for this woman’s mistake and I believe that had she been given another chance a more positive message would have been sent to students about the opportunities presented with a second chance:
A primary school dinner lady has been sacked for accidentally serving pork to a Muslim pupil.
Alison Waldock, 51, ‘forgot’ the seven-year-old dietary needs when she asked if the schoolgirl wanted gammon and the youngster said yes.
The school’s headteacher spotted the mistake as the youngster was about to tuck into the meat and swept the plate away from her.
The girl’s parents were then told how close their daughter had come to eating the meat, which is banned in their religion.
They complained to the school’s catering firm and Ms Waldock, a dinner lady for 11 years, was suspended pending an investigation.
She insisted she had made an honest mistake and had simply lost track of all the dietary requirements of the children at Queen Edith Primary School in Cambridge.
But she was dismissed a month later for gross misconduct due to ‘negligence, carelessness or idleness’.
Ms Waldock, a mother-of-two, said: ‘I feel the school and catering company made me a scapegoat so they can’t be seen as politically incorrect.
‘I was really upset when I found out what I’d done. I’d never have done something like this on purpose. It was a simple mistake – I was so gutted with the school’s reaction.
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