Seaham High School defends decision to 'temporarily remove' chairs from breakfast balcony

But school bosses insist rumours that students are being forced to eat standing up are ‘completely untrue’.

Complaints have been made after the chairs on the breakfast balcony, an area only years 10 and 11 have access to, were removed.

The school, which educates 1,105 students, says the decision was made on a trial basis but that staff are currently pricing up fixed benching for this area which they hope will solve this problem.

A student, who wished to remained anonymous, claimed the removal had meant that year eleven students were having to eat, rest and revise while standing up at break and lunch time.

The school said the balcony area of the dining hall was kept as an area for either Year 10 or Year 11. This area has a Breakfast bar, which the school used to have seats at but they have been removed on a trial basis to see if circulation round the school at lesson changeover is improved.

The school said that, despite an extension it paid to have added to the new site, the dining hall is quite small.

But headteacher Geoff Lumsdon says it has recently changed the school day to facilitate three split lunch sittings.

Mr Lumsdon added: “It is completely untrue that students are being forced to eat standing up because of a lack of chairs.

“There are hundreds of seats in our dining hall that all our students can sit on at lunchtime.

“The only seats that have been temporarily removed are at a separate breakfast bar on the balcony area, so that fixed seating can be fitted which is safer.”

The school also said that hot main meals provided by caterers "Creative" continue to prove very popular and that while Year 10 and Year 11 students don't have to have their lunch in that area and many sit downstairs or go outside, to date it had received no concerns from parents regarding this.