Marryatville High School bans UberEats deliveries during school hours

AN Adelaide school has banned students from ordering lunches with the UberEats app in a bid to combat a growing trend to shun the canteen for online food deliveries.

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AN Adelaide school has banned students from ordering lunches with the UberEats app in a bid to combat a growing trend to shun the canteen for online food deliveries.

Marryatville High School on Monday issued a message to parents, warning them of the “significant” safety risks for their children to leave school grounds.

“It has come to our attention that some students are using (UberEats) to have food delivered to the school,” said Wellbeing and Student Services Senior Leader Julie Ferguson.

“It has been reported that drivers are delivering food on to school grounds and that some students are even leaving school to collect UberEats deliveries in neighbouring streets.

“This practice presents significant safety concerns, namely, student interaction with adults without appropriate supervision or screening, and students leaving school grounds without permission,” said.

A similar message was also sent directly to Year 12 students in a closed Facebook group.

Seventeen-year-old Sarah Odell says she’s ordered online food, mainly hamburgers, to be delivered to school on several occasions.

Sarah Odell used UberEats to order food deliveries to Marryatville High School, but the school has now banned deliveries during school hours. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens

“To be honest, I never even thought about it as being an issue and I was a bit surprised to get (today’s) message,” the Year 12 student said.

“It’s become quite popular, especially since you’ve been able to use UberEats to order from Macca’s down the road.

“I’ve, also ordered from Nordburger, Two-Bit Villains and Zambrero Mexican,” she said.

She said students would typically get the delivery driver to meet them on the street, adjacent to the Year 12 common room, off Kensington Rd.

However, Sarah said now the directive has gone out, she’s happy to follow it, saying “we do have a canteen”.

In Perth, the Ocean Reef Senior School recently banned online deliveries saying there was no health checks on take away produce.

The school principal said students could buy food or drink from the canteen or bring their lunches to school.

South Australia’s Executive Director Partnerships, Schools and Preschools, Anne Millard, says while she’s not aware of students who have used the app to order lunch, it’s not appropriate.

“Anyone who visits a school during operating hours is required to present themselves to the front office,” she said.

A similar policy exists at the state’s Catholic schools.

Catholic Education SA’s Communications and Public Relations Manager Shannon Short says all catering needs to be delivered to “a staffed reception area not direct to students”.

She said there were no plans to draw up new guidelines in response to the issue as existing policies apply.

Association of Independent Schools SA chief executive Carolyn Grantskalns told The Advertiser says she’s not aware of it being an issue.