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?

So dd is only allowed a 'chocolate covered biscuit' on a Friday, no other day, yet plenty of other dc have innocent smoothies as a snack and the like, calorie for calorie there is no real difference with lots of these foods.

You can't seriously be trying to say that an Innocent Smoothie is equal to a chocolate covered biscuit? Yes, they both have sugar in and probably similar calories but one has the vitamins etc that come with fruit and the other is a chocolate biscuit.

This would infuriate me. I'd just make up the lunch box with the food I chose. And send a letter into school that you will be taking the matter further if there are any more complaints. How dare dare dare they dictate what children eat in a lunch box. I don't see how a school can dictate what children eat. It's beyond their authority and about time it was challenged.

The thing that bugs me about the rules are that they are so inconsistent.

No chocolate, but flapjack is a nice healthy snack option - really? Have you ever cooked it? - pure sugar, fat and syrup.
Also everyone sees crisps as normal lunchtime fodder, but if we are concerned about too much salt and fat, crisps are the no. 1 culprit in most kids diets, and a whole packet takes so long to eat, they don't eat other things.

I would prefer to see rules like 'we encourage children to bring in a sandwich or simliar and some fruit'

but equally, my ds hates sandwiches, and we struggle to find alternatives, and none of mine will eat an apple at lunchtime, it takes too long, so I am always struggling to find fruit/veg that packs well and eats fast.

If they're worried about children being high on sugar in afternoon school they should ban juice and insist on chocolate. A ham sandwich, carton of juice and an apple will hit the blood stream faster than a large bar of chocolate (the fat content slows it down). And the blood glucose would rise by the same amount as if they'd had 120g chocolate for lunch instead. A carb is a carb ...

Obv there are other reasons for eating apples instead of chocolate but the sugar content isn't a good one. Your body turns everything into sugar, if you don't give it carbs it will turn protein into sugar instead.

Our school has no rules about lunches, not even a nut ban. It's fab.

Back in the 19thc when I was at primary school, the headmistress banned all sweets and fizzy drinks. Amazingly, everyone complied and nobody gave a toss. None of the parents complained either.
She told us that she did it as some children didn't have as much money and it wasn't fair to have treats.

I am so pleased that she did this, and so sad that these days it would be a full page in The Sun with 'sad faced child' clutching a chocolate bar.

It is ridiculous, I am so glad that our primary has no rules other than no fizzy drinks.
I used to work in a pre-school nursery and some of the packed lunches there were horrific (cold half eaten cheeseburger and a grab bag of crisps, ketchup sandwich and nothing else, or chocolate spread, mars bar, chocolate yoghurt and full size frijj chocolate milkshake were among the worst)
However these were noted and the parents were spoken to and in one case SS were involved.
There is no need for blanket bans IMO, it all makes for a really unhealthy attitude to food, and more often than not there are double standards when the fundraising cake sale, or sweet stall at the school disco comes around.

FFG of course there are exceptions to the rules for the preschool packed lunches. They are also written as 'guidelines' so if parents stray from this on the odd occasion then it's ok. I know the one and only time I sent DS in with a packed lunch, (for a trip) I had forgotten to check our bread and only had the crusts which DS won't eat so sent him in with a cheese cracker and half a brioche! We weren't told off.

(Although the no nuts bit is a definite requirement)

My DD 4 has just started reception full time. Before they broke up for the summer holidays I had to e-mail the school asking what exactly I had to do with regards to dinners/lunch's. After several quite frankly shitty e-mails I found out that dinner money is to be paid daily which is a right pain in the arse, and I also asked if there was a policy regarding nuts, crisps and choc, in lunch box's, to which I had no reply!

At the min DD is having dinners but I find the menu quite frankly appalling! But I think the kids who take packed lunch can have what ever they want so if I send DD with a healthy lunch, I'm going to get 'X had this in his box and I want it as well!

Have had a few issues with the school tbh and if you want to know anything you have to go and ask as the school thinks we're all mind readers! We're hopefully moving in the next few months though, and DD will have to change schools. Fingers crossed the dinners etc will be better.

I'm off to find my copy of the menu, and will post exactly what crap the kids in our school are getting!

Am all for healthy eating and encouraging that from a young age.
What has the steam pouring from my ears is when they are sent out from school with a chocolate bar/treat/sweets as a treat and then me the parent has to divide it between three of them or there is armageddon.
Have a policy but dont then decide that the parent has to deal with the treats straight after school.

My kids' school has a no rubbish rule and a water only rule. I think there might be a no sweets in lunchbox rule but wouldn't do that anyway.

A few years back I did send fruit juice but the water only rule changed that habit and I am glad of it.

We have a 3 wk rotation, this wk consists of:

Monday: Pizza, potato smiles, coleslaw. Fruity cheesecake.
Tuesday: Cod nuggets, mash, beans. Choc and orange muffin.
Wednesday: Chicken, stuffing, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, carrots, green beans and gravy. Apple cake and custard.
Thursday: Spag bol, garlic bread. Fruity mousse.
Friday: Hotdog, chips. Oaty biscuit and juice drink.

Wk 2 -
Monday: Turkey meatballs, tom and basil pasta, focaccia. Fruity angel whirl.
Tuesday: Salmon nibbles, mash, beans. Pineapple cheesecake.
Wednesday: Sausage, yorkshire pudding, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, carrots, peas and gravy. Choc and pear sponge with custard.
Thursday: Chilli, brown rice, wholemeal roll. Fruit salad and ice cream.
Friday: Pizza, chips, beans. Rainbow jelly and fruit.

Wk 3-
Monday: Pizza, potato smiles, beans. Cherry shortbread and fruit.
Tuesday: Breaded fish, mash, peas. Fruity jelly.
Wednesday: Pork, stuffing, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage and gravy. Pineapple sponge and custard.
Thursday: Beef and spinach lasagne, salad, garlic bread. Fruity flap jack.
Friday: Beefburger and chips. Fruit with ice cream.

So they only have veg on a wed, and fri is crap day! Jamie Oliver would surely have a field day!! Or AIBU and is this not to bad!?

Our school is generally sensible - don't have any specific bans other than requesting crisps only go in packed lunches on a Friday.

There is pudding with school lunch everyday, but then as I have pointed out to my kids they have their hot meal and pudding in the evening, and some children have theirs at lunch with sandwiches at home.

Obviously this is a bit simplistic but it has stopped any whingeing at home, and I do sometimes put a treat in the lunch box and it doesn't get confiscated. The whole healthy eating thing has made my sons sanctimonious little hypocrites though, as they tell a friend off for having a wagon wheel for lunch then come out demanding I buy wagon wheels to take in tomorrow because Alfie had one today blah blah

If a school has a no rubbish rule. What does this mean exactly. Even the experts can't agree on what is good for us. And chocolate does contain nutrients. All this stict healthy eating will turn children into a nation of binge eaters.

DS's school has no nuts or chocolate. Crisps are "discouraged."

The school dinners menu is reasonable actually (no potato smiles or turkey dinosaurs thank heavens) and DS has them 2 days a week when DD has lunch at home so they can both have a sandwichy type.

The lunch box police thing is mildly annoying and I do think that parents who think a packet of Quavers & Haribo's constitute an acceptable lunch will be beyond the reach of any healthy eating initiatives. However I can't be arsed to get too het up about it. I usually give DS a piece of cake and glass of milk when he gets in. Surely those of you getting so cross about the banning of sweet things could do likewise?

Viviennemary No rubbish as in litter Sorry that was v unclear of me
No bins, no waste etc

The knock on effect is has been that kids tend to take more wholefoods than packet things.

No of course I'm not saying that a smoothie and a chocolate biscuit are the same but I would rather my dd had a penguin and an apple than a smoothie, I can't bear them frankly. Expensive, over sugared muck.

They aren't sugared. They have naturally occurring sugar from the fruit but they aren't sugared. Unless you get shit ones.

I think that the contents of my child lunchbox is nobodies business but mine.
Dds head tried to tell me to put less SALAD in her lunch. Because she couldn't finish it. Apparently, in HIS house the kids have portions that they can easily finish, to encourage them to clear their plates!
I'm quite capable of planning a balanced diet thank you. And probably know slightly more about food and nutrition, as a chef, than a teacher.

Saggy, I have been told to give my daughter less fruit which was annoying. The fruit in question was labelled very clearly "THIS DOES NOT NEED TO BE FINISHED" and the TA still commented that it was too much as she didn't finish.. well , no, which would be why I clearly labelled it that way. DD eats either vast amounts or barely anything, so I send in the vast amount, label every item saying she can leave it if she wants, and expect DD to be left alone. Lucky that she only has packed lunch on school trips or I might go mad!

Work in a dinner hall most lunch breaks, in a leafy rich school, and I would deem 50% of the lunch boxes as utter rubbish and I do think it is tricky as (1) behaviour is then much worse in the afternoon, (2) peer presssure means those with reasonable lunch boxes want to have the less reasonable ones, (3) I spend my life opening stupid fiddly packets.

Saggy It doesn't matter what you do, you will never know as much as some teachers.

And I can say that. I'm a teacher.

I think my son's school policy is very sensible, and I am very lucky.

"No nuts, fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate confectionery. Fruit is always a good idea."

Shame about no chocolate, but I don't mind because of the freedom with everything else.

i once got bollocked by a teacher for sending my dd in to school with a flask of stew and crusty bread with little packets of butter in her box. she also had some plums and a apple.

i still dont know why its bad to send stew on cold days

I am very much in favour of rules (uniform etc) but think it is actually disgusting that some schools are so arrogant that they can dictate what goes in lunchboxes. It's actually making me really cross reading this thread.

As other posters have said a cursory check to ensure pupil's do not have Redbull and a Mars Bar (as a child at my DN's school had on a trip once) is enough monitoring.

I am a firm believer that children need feeding up. The vair vair posh school I used to work at had unlimited bread and jam at meal times, for example, and fed all the children biscuits at morning break and a bun gasp at afternoon break.

Stupid lunchbox rules are a sledgehammer to crack a nut IMHO. Our school "encourages" rather than bans, except for whole nuts, sweets and fizzy pop. They also serve wholewheat toast at break.

I agree with whoever it was upthread who was talking about nutritionally dense food. DS1 used to bring half of his lunch uneaten and be ravenous, because he hadn't had time to finish at lunchtime. So now I go for calories/nutrients per mouthful - banana loaf rather than fluffy bun, cheese roll rather than plain bread, strawberries rather than apple. Cheese pieces are good too.