Costa opens up in Cornish Academy

Months of playground gossip has come to an end after a school in Cornwall acknowledged that building work would soon be undertaken to convert an old, redundant classroom into a Costa Coffee outlet.

The café inside Camborne School and International Academy (CSIA) will be the first Costa branded coffee shop inside school in Cornwall, but, surprisingly, not the first in England.

The international brand has a presence in around seventy academic institutions.

The move has provoked anger from parents, but the academy has stressed that the facility will only be available for those working towards their A-levels and it will also provide a number of employment opportunities for some of the older students.

“For our ever-increasing sixth form to have their own restaurant/café in which they can seek employment, it empowers the students to feel assured about the world of work,” said CSIA’s Vice Principal Andrew Dodd, who continued:

“The students employed…will manage their time between lessons and learning.

“It’s really difficult for young people to find part-time employment so this ensures that students can continue their studies as-well as gaining an array of valuable skills and experience to add to their CV.”

But some parents are not convinced and have raised their fears, stating that younger children could get hold of coffee from older students and elder siblings and thus consume a potentially dangerous level of caffeine without any supervision or precaution against such an eventuality.

One such parent, who asked to remain anonymous, voiced their concerns to the local newspaper. “I don’t agree with it at all,” she said. “A lot of parents don’t let their children drink coffee because of the side effects and now they have no control over it.”

According to the website Caffeine Informer, an average-sized cup of coffee from Costa contains 277mg of caffeine.

To put that in context, the recommended daily amount of caffeine for adults is between 300-400mg whilst developing teenagers should have no more than 100mg in a twenty-four hour period.

She also made the claim that two English classes had been knocked through in order to accommodate the new Costa facility.

A statement, released on behalf of CSIA, stated that: “The café will have its own management team who will ensure that no students other than six formers are allowed in,” in an attempt to quell these fears.

What do you think?

Would you be happy with a coffee shop opening up in your son or daughter’s school?

header photo: Thomas Petersen, used under creative commons