Head teacher eats tarantula

One of Britain's leading head teachers stunned pupils - by eating a tarantula in front of a packed assembly.


Aydin Onac ate the baked spider to raise money for a new sports and drama centre at the highly rated St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent.

Some pupils enjoyed seeing his discomfort during the ordeal but others were upset, and at least one parent complained, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Onac explained: "It wasn't until I opened the container and saw how big it was that I started to feel very nervous.

"When all the students came into the great hall and I realised what I had let myself in for, and that there was no way out, then I really started to panic."

He added: "It tasted quite salty, and a little bit like burnt chicken. It felt crunchy and very dry in the mouth, like eating those very dry cheese biscuits, so it was difficult to swallow.

"As I was eating it I was thinking about the quickest route to the cloakroom and whether I would still be alive by break-time."

The spider was sourced from Cambodia, where they are farmed and eaten by locals as a delicacy, and Mr Onac insisted its importation complied with British and EU guidelines.

But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's all very well raising money, but why does he have to behave as if he's taking part in I'm A Celebrity?"

Another complained: "I know that these spiders are farmed in Cambodia and considered a delicacy there, but we're not in Cambodia, we're in Orpington and in Orpington we don't do things like this."

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