THE headteacher of a progressive school has criticised supermarket bosses for changing the way customers can now claim their dividend.As of September 30, people shopping at the Co-op will no longer be able to just quote a dividend number for an account of their choice - thereby raising money for a specific charity or group.

THE headteacher of a progressive school has criticised supermarket bosses for changing the way customers can now claim their dividend.

As of September 30, people shopping at the Co-op will no longer be able to just quote a dividend number for an account of their choice - thereby raising money for a specific charity or group.

Instead all customers will have to have a membership card swiped first before quoting a number.

The move has angered Zoe Readhead, headteacher at Summerhill School in Leiston, because she says pupils who shop in the local store will no longer be able to raise money for the school.

She said: “In the past the children could go into the shop and quote our number so that the school would get the dividend and then we would use that money in the school community fund.

“But now they have been told they have to have card. I'm quite angry about it because it's worth about £200 a year to the school. I find it quite discriminatory. On the one hand the children are good enough to spend their money in the shop but on the other they're not allowed to say where they want the dividend to go.

“To me it seems hugely bureaucratic. They way they already do it works perfectly well - I don't see why we have to carry cards because most people are happy to just quote a number.”

Summerhill is a progressive co-educational residential school where lessons are optional and rules are voted on by children and staff, who have equal rights.

Miriam Harrup, communications and community manager for the East of England Co-operative Society, said the dividend scheme would continue as before - the only difference being that members will have to swipe their dividend card at the till before quoting a charity or group's number.

“Co-operative Societies are owned by their members and dividend is an individual member's share in the profits of the Society,” she said. “Non-members have no entitlement to dividend and cannot therefore divert dividend to charity or, indeed, to any other account.

“Those charities that have their own dedicated share number are not individual members of the Society; it is special arrangement that has been in place for many years allowing local people, who are members, to support charities of their choice.”

She added that although members should be aged over 16 the principal card holder could nominate other family members or friends to have an associate card, in which case a young person could contribute to their family's dividend entitlement.