PARENTS of children at a Swindon school were stunned when they were sent an email that revealed the names of all the children receiving free school meals.

The spreadsheet was emailed out via the Parentpay system from Bridlewood Primary School on Friday afternoon and detailed the all pupils who had requested a Christmas lunch.

But it also highlighted which children had free meals and many others who had so far not paid for the meal.

One shocked parent who contacted the Advertiser said: “It is absolutely horrendous that this has been sent out to all the parents.”

The man, who did not want to be identified, said his child was on the list and although they did not have free meals he felt horrified and embarrassed for the parents of those who did.

He was shocked when he opened the document and realised what it contained. “That information should never have been given out. I just think it is disgusting.”

All the names of the pupils at the school in Chartwell Avenue, Blunsdon and their classes were listed in the document shown to us.

Around 14 of the 270 pupils were marked up as having free lunches.

We will not reveal them, but the parent was concerned about how the information could be used by other recipients, especially in cases where families might have moved to get away from domestic violence.

“It is a child protection issue as well,” he said. “It should never have happened.

“Quite often they send out email with the wrong attachment and so it’s likely to happen again.”

He had spoken to staff to complain about the breach, but was concerned it had not been taken seriously.

“All we have got from the school is a ‘Sorry for any distress it has caused.’”

In a statement issued yesterday the school said: “Unfortunately this was quite simply a case of human error, which resulted in the wrong attachment being sent out in an email to parents.

“Once we realised we had made a mistake we immediately contacted parents to apologise and sent the correct information.”

Parentpay is a payment system that allows parents to pay online for things like school meals, trips, exam fees and uniform.

The software firm’s service is used by more than 6000 schools in 200 local authorities around the country.

Payment reminders and alerts are sent direct to parents and the system is sometimes used to send information by text and email about emergency closures, trips and parents’ evenings.

On its website it states: “Parentpay increases take-up of free school meals and promotes social inclusion – eligible children are no longer differentiated from other pupils.”

Bridlewood says it uses the emailing system because letters often go missing between school and home. It urges families to sign up for the Parentpay service.

The school, which opened in 2005, was rated by Ofsted as good in its last inspection four years ago.