A school head lets her pupils have cigarette breaks because she says it stops them from bunking off.Children at the school are allowed to light up twice a day under the supervision of teachers.But they only allowed to join the 10-minute sessions with parental permission.
Head Claire George says it is the only way to stop problem children absconding from school.
Tory MP Stewart Jackson has called for the local authority to review the practise.
He said: “Most reasonable people would be quite surprised by this.
“They are not adults able to make reasonable choices. They are children who should follow the rules.”
One relative of a child at the unit, who asked not to be named, added: “I am outraged that this is allowed.
“I thought the school had parental duties when our children are under their care.”
The smoking breaks have been introduced at Honeyhill pupil referral unit in Peterborough, Cambs, which caters for 200 pupils aged between 14 and 16.
Children have to hand in their cigarettes at the start of the school day and are only allowed them back for the off-site breaks.
Ms George explained: “Pupils who attend Honeyhill do so because they have failed, many more than once, in mainstream education.
“They are amongst the most challenged and challenging young people within the city and most have complex issues.
“Therefore our approach has got to be different to give them the best possible chance of getting an education which allows them to progress into employment or further education or training.
“For those pupils who do smoke, we have a clear procedure in place. Pupils and their parents/carers are asked about health related habits when they start at the school.
“Our approach is that pupils who already smoke on admission can, with parental consent, have up to two 10 minute, off-site, fully supervised smoking breaks a day.
“We appreciate some people will not agree with this approach, but we have found it far more effective than simply banning smoking, which our experience shows us leads to pupils not attending school or absconding during the day to smoke.”
An Ofsted visit in December rated Honeyhill ‘good’ with outstanding leadership and management.
Pupils at Elmete Central School in Roundhay, Leeds, were allowed to smoke twice a day on the school premises until the policy was changed in October last year.
The headteacher had said the rule was aimed at stopping pupils leaving the school premises to smoke.
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