Holli McCann was sent home from a school trip for eating chocolate (Picture: Masons)

A girl of 11 was booted off a school trip to the Isle of Wight – after being caught tucking into a chocolate snack.

Holli McCann, 11, was told she would have to return home after enjoying a midnight feast with pals.

Her secret snack was discovered only when she wrote about it to her mother Kerri in a letter – which was read by a member of staff from Bromet Primary School, in Watford.

A search of Holli’s room at Beaufort House Hotel, in Sandown, was ordered and more chocolate was found – prompting staff to remove the lining of the youngster’s suitcase and empty her toilet bag.




Mrs McCann was then telephoned by headteacher Yvonne Graves and told that she would have to make the trip from her home in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, to collect her daughter, claiming she had breached a behaviour ‘charter’.

Despite pleading for leniency, 47-year-old Mrs McCann was told that if Holli was not picked up she would be forced to attend all the planned activities on the week-long trip but would be banned from taking part in them.

‘I am still in shock, I complained to the head but she still hasn’t contacted me after making me go all the way to the Isle of Wight, which ended up costing me an absolute fortune,’ she said.

‘I am furious that they read her letter, it is like being in prison. It’s not like she is five – she is 11 and deserves privacy in what she writes to her mum.

‘Holli said she was really upset because they emptied her toiletry bag into the sink and pulled out the lining in her suitcase.

‘She was very upset for a few days after coming back.’

Mrs McCann has since taken Holli out of the school for the rest of her final term and made a formal complaint. She has also written to education secretary Michael Gove.

‘What Holli did was wrong but your own behaviour and handling of the situation was disgraceful,’ she wrote.

‘I am astonished at the way you behaved and have decided that Holli will not be returning to Bromet for obvious reasons.’

A Hertfordshire County Council spokesman said: ‘Before the Year 6 trip to the Isle of Wight, parents and pupils were asked to sign a behaviour charter which clearly outlines how pupils should behave during the trip.

‘This is to ensure that everyone can have a safe and enjoyable holiday. It was made clear that breaking any of the rules within the charter would result in parents being asked to take their child home, as was the case with this pupil.’