To think if chocolate is banned from packed lunches..

[stella1w]

Then ice cream should not be on school lunches menu. Day one of reception full day, i send dd1 in with packed lunch with no chocolate or things with chocolate in them, etc etc. So kid gets hummus sandwiches, carrots and cucumber, yoghurt, apple, cheesy biscuits. Understandably, she now wants school dinners (which i can't afford) because they have icecream.
Aibu to expect school to observe same healthy eating rules it imposes on parents?

Depends.

Was it chocolate ice cream?

When mine were still in school I put in a creme egg that ds had been given in school the previous day and got a snooty letter home from them. He had it taken off him and returned to me at the end of the day when I picked him up.

My kids used to be quite sensible about treats, but the year they were in school made them go crazy for the forbidden fruit, so their policy had entirely the opposite effect to the one intended. It took about 6 months of home education to get them to be sensible about chocolate and treats again.

It used to drive me crazy.

I have to say that if any teacher ever told me what I could and couldnt feed my child I would go daft.

Why do schools think they can override parents? I am the one who knows what she eats all week so I am in a better position than they are to balance it out.

And a small biscuit for lunch is hardly the end of the world!! As a pp said, its teaching that biscuits and sweets are the forbidden fruit...not allowed so instantly more desirable.

Thanks for the replies. I will call ofsted. I did in fact give her icecream after dnner at home the next day, but actually don,t want to do that on a regular basis as for us icecream is a hot day treat. I think a small amount of a sweet treat in a balanced lunchbox is fine. And if the school thinks a total ban is easier to police, then fine. But they need to apply the same rules to school dinners. I don,t understand the inconsistency and my 4yo certainly doesn,t.
They have also banned all water bottles except those purchased rom the school which have a special safety valve. They don,t put jugs of water on the table for packed lunches, only for school dinners and the teacher said to send her in with juice boxes which a) i never do because I think they are unhealthy and b) surely can make a bigger mess than non-regulation water bottles. And in any case, part of going to school is learning independence. Dd can drink out of a glass without spilling. Sigh.
I wd break the rules but she,s a bit young to be clear sometimes what has happened and i don,t want her to feel naughty if they confiscate something. They already are not letting her finish her lunch if she takes longer than 30 mins

I think schools sometimes feel they have to take these measures because some parents really do put an unbelievable amount of crap in their dcs lunch boxes.

To parents who try to give their do a healthy balanced diet, these rules seem ridiculous, but then those parents probably haven't come across the state of some children's lunches. I have seen children come into school with lunch boxes that consist of Ribena, a Mr Kipling cake slice, a mini roll, a bag of mini cookies and a bag of skips. Or variations along exactly the same theme. And nothing else at all. It does happen, unfortunately quite a lot. Schools have to do something to try and combat this because it leaves the children unable to learn to their potential and it is unfair on the other parents and children who do try to eat well. How does a lunchtime supervisor try to convince child X that they have to eat their savouries first when child Y has nothing but various forms of sugar in their lunchbox?

Like I've already said, I don't agree with chocolate/treat bans in lunches because apart from all the other reasons why it's outrageous, it takes away a learning opportunity for children. But sometimes, schools do have to do something.

I think more often than not, it's other parents that are to blame for these sorts of draconian rules, not the schools.

From what I have previously read jam sandwiches are banned but I'll let someone with experience confirm this

I really agree with *Outraged". My DH is a teacher (Secondary) and he says the amount of crap the kids eat is just unbelievable. And then they are expected to sit in class and learn....how are they going to do that when they are hyper with sugar?

YANBU OP, I agree that is chocolate is banned in packed lunches then it should be the same for school lunches. Makes no sense otherwise.
But I am glad that schools are limiting what crap that kids can eat. When my DCs are of school age (next year) i want them to eat healthily so will be providing a packed lunch if school meals aren't good. And I don't want them to be coming home saying that so and so had haribos/cake/mini rolls in their packed lunch and why can't I?

We have similar rules. I put 2 squares of chocolate in my son's lunchbox once, as a treat. He was told he had to eat it on the way home, because it broke the rules... but he could have something like a Penguin or Kitkat and that would be fine. Because that's technically a biscuit

My DS's school has no rule on lunch boxes but state that they 'advocate healthy eating' (and no nuts obviously) which is great as he eats very healthy anyway.

He gets a sandwich, babybel, a dried fruit box such as raisins, a homemade wholemeal muffin or mini snack such as Cadbury animals and some fruit - usually grapes and blueberries.

I feel like you can't do right as a parent anyway - DS absolutely loves fruit and I get told not to give him too much as it's bad for his teeth.

I would much rather feed my son from a lunch box than the rubbish at school.

Oh I can't wait till dd starts school

I work for the PCT healthy lifestyle team.

Bring
It
ON!!!

At dd's school the only rule is nut free which is fair enough as I know of at least two dcs with nut allergies. The school dinners are actually well cooked and balanced and they are made fresh every day. They regularly invite parents and grandparents in for lunch with the children.

This is a church school not private so I think this would be a good example to follow. They educate them about healthy eating including having things in moderation. Seems like a good attitude to me.

How does the nut allergy thing get sorted at High School?

No school dinners here, but most schools have a healthy lunchbox policy, with one treat allowed on Fridays, which is sensible I feel.

I've had pretty much the same discussion at our school this morning after my child's cake was confiscated yesterday

Apparently, they have decided that cake/biscuits are nolonger allowed in packed lunch boxes, but from having a read of the school dinner menu this week they have:

Monday - iced bun
Tuesday - sponge pudding and custard
Wednesday - choc-chip cookie
Thursday - ginger bread man
Friday - chocolate muffin

I love baking so a lot of the cake is homemade, mixed in with the occasional jammie dodger and mini roll

While their lunch boxes aren't going to win any healthy eating awards, they don't solely consist of coke, crisps and a chocolate bar (today is a tuna sandwich, some slices of cucumber, a yoghurt, a satsuma, a piece of homemade flapjack and a bottle of water), so I don't see the problem with a couple of biscuits/small piece of home made cake at the end of an otherwise ok lunch

We've always had a no nuts rule but they've gradually got more and more strict over other stuff to the point I'm not exactly sure what is allowed any more

YANBU.

Although DD's have school dinner I hate the fact that they have 'pudding' everyday normally cake and custard while those having pack up can't even have a small treat.

I have no issue with a Healthy Eating Policy but I do with the inconsistancies of lunch - either packed or school dinners.

The problem is that, like most of these initiatives, the people they are directed at totally ignore them whilst everyone else just gets annoyed.

I also have an issue with teachers and dinner ladies (neither of whom are qualified in nutrition of any sort) deciding what my child eats for lunch. Things like "no cheese strings" but "a portion of cheese" really riles me, as does serving Chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce for school dinners whilst a small jaffa cake bar is banned in lunchboxes.

If the schools want to help children who have serious food/weight problems then they should work directly with that childs parents. Pulling a child up on what he/she is eating in front of everyone in the dining room is just not on.

A childminder friend of mine was horrified when one of her mindees brought a packed lunch consisting of hariboo sweets, crisps, a fruit shoot and a chocolate sweet bar.

I agree the schools are being overzealous (appalled at the class inspection), but does anyone have any suggestions for what they could do instead?

The water thing is another issue entirely Stella! Honestly, you wouldn't believe the politics surrounding school lunches.

I are been told I'm not allowed to give water to children that have packed lunches. Obviously this is a ridiculous and unrealistic rule that I am not prepared to adhere to, but to be fair, if you want your child to have water then provide it in a bottle. I give water out when parents don't provide a drink, but mostly they do. I wouldn't get away with it if every parent regularly didn't I've a drink.

The reason I'm not supposed to give out water is that the outside caterers provide water in a dispenser for the children who have school lunches, so their parents pay for it. We don't have enough jugs and cups to provide every single child in the school with a jug and a cup, and the dinner lady that is employed by the catering company isn't given enough time to wash up after the entire school. It would be quite chaotic in our dining room if staff had to keep going back and forth to the kitchen filling up jugs, and we would get in the dinner lady's way. it is much better if we can stay in the room where the children are eating the whole time. We also don't have the space on lunchbox tables for cups and jugs, and they would be spilled more easily than cartons or bottles. We don't have enough staff available to assist children with jugs and clear up regular spillages and help open drinks/food and encourage children to eat their savouries first and generally supervise them and their behaviour all at the same time.

You may think your dd can drink out of a cup without spilling, but she is not the only child that has to be considered, nor is she the only child that will be sat at one table.

I've started sending dd in with foreign food treats (biscuits stuffed with mashed dates etc) with all the writing on the packaging in arabic, the dinner ladies no longer have a clue what she is eating as I deliberately pick the more obscure hard to identify ingredients items.

Ds gets 'I ate everything' stickers at lunch time, no idea how the school thinks that helps obesity crisis!

I don't see it as the dinner ladies job to police the lunches I provide or encourage my child to eat. I can deal with that my own way at home.

Bloody hell, where I work it's the reverse - the menus are devised by a nutritionist to ensure children are offered correct proportions of nutrients. No jam/honey etc nevermind chocolate. Parents would be incandescent if we served up puddings.

Personally I think that children need a bit of sugar - and how is a little choc bar different to the kids with school dinners that are eating cake in icecream cones for dessert ?!
I was also very surprised to learn that while the school "promotes" healthy eating, by telling you what your child can and can't take to school in their lunch box, they also only allow the children (eating school dinners) to have 1 vegetable from a choice of 3 !! Surely if they want 2 or even all the vege's they should be encouraged to !
Rant over !!

Parents that get pissed off with school lunch rules generally assume that every parent is like them and provides well balanced lunches and encourages good eating habits at home.

You really do have to remember that not every parent is like you, and some couldn't give a toss what their children eat. Schools have to consider those children.

I agree with you OP.

Although Outraged is absolutely spot on.

You can only truly appreciate the need for the lunch box police when you see the absolute shite that some parents are prepared to send their children in with.

It's just frustrating when your own child's well balanced lunchbox falls foul of a rule or two.

Outraged makes a good point, but I still think they're going above what they should. Taking food from a child that its parent has given them?

I think if they have a noticeably unhealthy lunch box day in day out, then it should be addressed. But don't pre empt it.

Also I think sometimes healthy food can be more expensive

Outraged has shown why the rules are needed. I saw a child last week who had a packed lunch consisting only of sweets, chocolate and crisps. Why any adult would think that was an appropriate dinner for their child god knows!