Banning birthday cakes at school?

[wildcoffeeandbeans]

I've just read that DS's primary school is no longer letting parents bring in cakes for their child's birthday because of the sugar content. :( This makes me unreasonably sad. I agree sugar is a problem in modern diets, but surely it has its time and place?

Still
It's nice to know

What a bunch of old miseries! When I was teaching a cake for a birthday was a nice little occasion. I had the routine down to a tee.

Wow. My DD starts reception in September and I had no idea this was a thing. Good for the school and I certainly hope they don't allow cakes for children's birthdays at DD's school. I don't mind her having cakes sometimes and ours is not a house where any particular food is banned, but I don't want other parents deciding when my DD will have cake at school when she's probably also had a pudding at lunch. I remember a polystyrene cake at my school too. What's wrong with that?!

Derxa - what did you do for the children allergic to milk, egg, soya etc? make them watch or eat a bowl of apples as my child had to last week?

I had a little stash of sweets in my drawer for kids who couldn't eat the cake.

I'm another one who has never heard of children bringing in cake to school for birthdays. I'm surprised it's ever been allowed.

We've banned cake at our school. Mostly because we are trying to achieve the healthy school award.

I'm glad.

It's a faff. I have no TA and no time to walk away from my class to cut cake and don't have knives in my classroom.
The cakes rarely serve 30.

Most of all, I have a vegetarian child, a dairy intolerant (epi pen) chid, a child with a nut allergy (another epi pen) and a vegan. Oh and a Hari Krishna, so they aren't allowed to eat any food outside of the family home as anything they eat must be blessed and shared with their God.

It's great to not have those moments where they feel left out.

Ah great Derxa....you'd fill him full of sugar and still make him fill 'different' to his peers. Giving kids sweets or bowls of apple pieces is no substitute to birthday cake.
The place for birthday cake is a birthday party...not a classroom!

Actually some children chose to have nothing and they didn't get upset.
Anyway I'm not teaching so upsetting no one thank God

The policy at DS1's school is for any cakes / sweets to be individually wrapped, and they're handed out at hometime.

We allow a small bag of haribo or treat sized bar. We have had parents bring cake in, but have asked them.not to. It's a huge faff to give out cake at the end of the day, as there isn't really a suitable time to eat cake during the school day. Before we asked parents not to bring cake there was a little one-upmanship, and the individual boxed cupcakery became ridiculous. The kind that you cannot eat without a snorkel because of so much frosting. I have a child in my class with multiple serious allergies, plus a coeliac. We don't need the chocolate coins in cards at Christmas, or little eggs at Easter... because that's become a thing now....some children always get left out, and it's a little heartbreaking to explain to little Flossie that not everyone has an egg. Bit of a ramble, but I'm rejigging my phonics intervention for tomorrow ☺

I never send cakes in for my children's birthdays... It seems a bit 'look at me' for either of mine to deal with. It's a big school and we will sing penblwydd hapus to Y6 children but a lot of them don't want the fuss and refuse the offer. Often I feel the cake distribution ceremony is more about the parents.

also it makes children whose parents can't go to all the fuss and drama of bringing birthday cakes to school - feel left out I think.

its a ridiculous development IMO, like the whole stupid party bag thing with no party FFS.

Parents commonly do this at ds' school for birthdays - head of infants seems quite happy with it. Usually individual cakes/ biscuits though. One boy in ds' class isn't allowed any - he isn't allowed pudding at lunch either - but I think his mum probably has a complex set of issues herself underlying this odd restictiveness.
Too much sugar = bit OTT.