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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

or have the school gone bonkers?

377 replies

ohballs2013 · 09/07/2013 09:14

got a letter last night, in the new teacher info pack.
the school have said that as of the new school term a few more items have been added to the not allowed in lunch box list.
we already had the normal,
no nuts
no fizzy drinks
no bars of chocolate

now we also have

no bananas
no berry fruit, including anything containing berry fruit, such as smoothies, youghurts, cereal bars etc
no fish
no eggs
no crisps
no citrus fruits
no peices of meat, ie chicken legs.

now i get that you have to protect as many kids with allergies as possible..but WTF. is it not going a bit mad?
my own child has coeliacs, so i know all about limited diets, but im astonished at this.

OP posts:
pumpkinsweetie · 09/07/2013 22:12

The thing is the school have banned almost everything so if a child is allergic to the few things left possible to eat & so on and so forth there will eventually be nothing left to eatConfused

The school needs to deal with this differently, and this isn't it

CloudsAndTrees · 09/07/2013 22:14

Slight over reaction there Miaow!

It would be wrong if parents started saying things like that, but whether they do or they don't, the kids still will!

Out of an entire school full of children, it is reasonable to think at least a few might be able to work out the reason why they are suddenly disallowed the healthy packed lunches they used to enjoy, and be slightly pissed off about it?

BrianTheMole · 09/07/2013 22:18

The school needs to manage it properly, not just ban everything to make their own lives easier. If they don't know how to manage it they need to get some training.

SoggySummer · 09/07/2013 22:21

Does the school dinner menu work on a weekly,fortnightly or 3 weekly rota?

I would be asking for the same rota(weekly/fortnightly/3weekly) of example/suggested packed lunches to also include children with varying dietry requirements such as diabetes/celiac.

That does seem such a restrictive list but also pretty damn pointless if they all eat in the same dining room as the school dinner lot.

That is seriously limiting that list - I would be seriously requesting examples of what they expect you to include. Infact, given the extensive list of banned items it would have been polite and helpful for the school to have done this as standard - at the bottom of the banned list.
The fact they have not suggests they know its will be quite jard to provide a variety of packed lunches for children.

Are the school trying to boost school dinner numbers perhaps?? (cynical)!!

Wheresmycaffeinedrip · 09/07/2013 22:22

I would assume if it was that simple the parents would have done it. I doubt anyone would walk into a school and ask then to do all this if they honestly didn't think they needed to.

The HT quite rightly can't tell you what's going on. They are just thinking of their child, they honestly probably haven't thought as far ahead as your kids and their dietary requirements. I doubt it's registered for a second how hard it's actually going to be. We don't know the kid maybe there's something wrong and she doesn't understand refusing food, or she really is likely to punch other people's food or touch it.

The school and parents have a big job on their hands coming up with lists of appropriate foods and eating arrangements.

edam · 09/07/2013 22:22

wow, that is a seriously restricted list. What does it leave? Cheese/ham sandwich and an apple - if you aren't coeliac, in which case it's a block of cheese!

Bizarre that these items are allowed in school dinners - so either someone is very thick or the allergic children aren't allergic to sharing a room with the suspected allergens on the list. In which case, why are they being banned?

I'd ask the school to talk through their reasoning, what specialist advice they have had from someone (a dietitian, for instance) who actually does understand nutrition and allergies, not merely makes massive assumptions about them, and what advice they have from a properly qualified dietitian about ensuring children-without-allergies are able to have a well-balanced nutritious meal given the list of restricted foods.

Someone who understands allergies properly needs to work through this list and balance the needs of the whole group of children to have a nutritious meal with the needs of some specific children to be safe from allergens. You can't just ban such an extensive list of foods, it's ridiculous.

Moxiegirl · 09/07/2013 22:23

Genuine question, what happens when the children reach adulthood, because I've never heard of a workplace that bans certain foods due to allergies?

Wheresmycaffeinedrip · 09/07/2013 22:23

Punch? Pinch

MNHQ
OliviaMMumsnet · 09/07/2013 22:27

Evening all
May I just sandwich in a link to our talk guidelines?
Thanks
MNHQ

KobayashiMaru · 09/07/2013 22:29

Hey how come I get deleted for objecting to being called a cunt? Hardly bloody fair.

queenofthepirates · 09/07/2013 22:35

Turkey twizzlers and fruit shoots it is then

JerseySpud · 09/07/2013 22:36

Nice pun there MNHQ!

Moxiegirl · 09/07/2013 22:36

Sausage and bean slice?

whois · 09/07/2013 22:39

Genuine question, what happens when the children reach adulthood, because I've never heard of a workplace that bans certain foods due to allergies?

I asked that last time one of these came up. Answer seemed to be they just dealt with it and were super careful.

If someone at my work (HUGE office) had a sever penit allergy they would be screwed tho - penit butter served in the canteen, people touching lift buttons and doors etc!

skyeskyeskye · 09/07/2013 22:39

This is ridiculous and all children are being penalised for the sake of two. Those two could sit separately in order to protect them. It's an hour a day if that and for their own protection. If the allergy is so severe that they can't come into contact with people who eat this stuff, they must lead a very isolating life and never go anywhere.

I have a friend with a severe egg allergy and a friends child with a severe nut allergy. Both try to lead normal lives without disrupting everybody else. Both carry Epi pens and both avoid the food that they can't eat.

The parents if those children can provide them with a safe packed lunch and it shouldn't affect the other kids. It really isn't fair to the other children to be so restricted.

Yes I know that allergies are important but the school just needs to set up some safeguarding at lunchtime and the problem is solved.

Get some support from other parents and take it to the Governors and see what can be done. That list leaves them barely anything to eat.

With the Givernment talking if banning packed lunches, it makes you wonder if there is a hidden agenda.

ArgyMargy · 09/07/2013 22:41

School clearly bonkers. Makes you wonder what the education is like.

ArgyMargy · 09/07/2013 22:42

Whols - seriously, "penit"????

pumpkinsweetie · 09/07/2013 22:49

Government planning to ban pack lunchesShock, surely not!!

ShadowStorm · 09/07/2013 22:55

Found a Daily Mail article about banning packed lunches

It's government advisors who are suggesting this - basically, they're arguing that parents are putting unhealthy stuff in packed lunches and it's making kids fat. There's no mention of banning packed lunches being recommended by the actual government in this article.

propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 09/07/2013 23:06

Yanbu. You need to politely tell school to effectively 'fuck the fuck off'. Any further u rest from them and mention your Dc's 'human rights' and refer, animatedly, to the ECHR.....

BlackeyedSusan · 09/07/2013 23:43

riiiiiiighhht... unhealthy things in packed lunches? some parents maybe, not all. I don't see my children getting chips once a week, or cake, or icecream, or biscuits, a number of other things on the school dinner menu Angry (dd is allergic and packed lunches are the safe way for her to eat. she is restricted to certain foods by the dentist and has to have others on recommendation of the clinic for another health problem. )

the allergy thing is illogical. either it is banned in everythiing, including school dinners, or it is not. if a child was so allergic that they could not have the allergen in the same room i would have no problem with it. it is the illogical nature of the ban that is daft)

dayshiftdoris · 10/07/2013 00:34

Banning balloons, rubbers and elastic bands for a teacher with a latex allergy Shock

I worked with a health professional with anaphylactic allergies to certain antibiotics and latex... We couldn't ban the allergens from her work environment because we needed them! We all helped manage the risk through a sensible risk assessment and supporting her to work round them.

Banning a significant number of food groups is absolutely ridiculous - it's obviously not been risk assessed properly... Parents can 'request' what they like but it is schools that make decisions. I would go to the Governors with this one - they have 14days to respond. This needs sorting before the end of term.

SoupDragon · 10/07/2013 07:03

I doubt anyone would walk into a school and ask then to do all this if they honestly didn't think they needed to.

They may think they need to but they are clearly completely wrong.

Assuming the parents actually requested these items be banned, I assume they wouldn't be happy to know they would still be included in the school meals...?

Anyway, as the OP says that head said that school dinners wont be changing cause the parents wont be giving their kids school dinners I would be writing to the head, stating that as the children with the allergies will also not be eating my child's packed lunch I will still be sending in a sensible, healthy lunch that my child will eat. I would also send in prints/links which explain why these bans are a bad idea.

Wheresmycaffeinedrip · 10/07/2013 07:24

Of course they are completely wrong but they may well be following the advice they were given by the medical person overseeing their case. Calling them bonkers and voicing intent to flout the new rules is just not the way to go. The whole thing is massively flawed and I think it would be best to calmly point it out and appear to cooperate where you can help the school and hopefully help the parents figure out the best way to deal with it.
Remember we don't have access to medical details and op has only been given a brief explanation she's not entitled to know everything.

This is about a child after all, not a school being deliberately awkward.

Obviously this all can't go ahead as it is I hope things can be worked out in a way where everyone can be happy.

SoupDragon · 10/07/2013 07:30

Yes, it is about a child.

Providing a healthy, balanced, packed lunch is also about a child. Lots of children in fact.

If the items were banned from school dinners as well, I would leave them out of a packed lunch. As they are not, the supposed "safeguards" are nonsensical and I would have no qualms about voicing my intent to flout the rules.

Either they can keep the child safe from contamination or they can't. So,
if they can keep a child safe from school dinners, they can keep them safe from packed lunches.