Lunch box police

[BackToBeingMe]

Just had a phone call from school and asked if I could go in for a chat regarding dd lunch. She is 6 and in year 2, being in key stage 1 she gets universal free school meals which she has everyday apart from Wednesday. Wednesday is always a roast and the gravy the meat is cooked in gives her an upset stomach. I am irritated as the teacher has looked in dd lunch bag this morning which I feel is out of order if I'm total honest. So the offending item which she has had the last few Wednesday's as there is 10 in a pack is a mini Pick Up Bar. Photo attached for size she has just the 1 biscuit not the 3 that is the actual serving size. Along with the pick up she has a cheese and ham mini wrap with lettuce, cucumber and red onion in, 6 cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, a pot of hummus and grapes which are cut into 1/4s. I was a bit taken aback just now on the phone so didn't say much at all, now I need to know what to say at by meeting this afternoon. I would seriously think the school had more to worry about than a flamming fun size biscuit. For back ground we moved into this area recently and dd has only been at the school since the September and such rule was mentioned during induction day in July.

I can't remember what I put in her lunch last Wednesday apart from the mini Pick Up and she had one the Wednesday before half term as well but I would never put anything in there that was seen as alarming. My other dc has packed lunch everyday and they always have a small biscuit type thing with their lunch and no issue there, I guess their teacher has better things to do with her time than to get worked up over a biscuit! Today that dc had a mini bag of free from Jaffa Cakes so Jaffa Cake chocolate is obviously ok.

I have had similar with our school in relation to a cereal bar. I pointed out that their suggestion of raisins etc had a much higher sugar content than the healthy bar that I provided. Then suggested that they revise their policies to be actually based upon facts rather than a teachers opinion.

I would be a no-show in this situation on the grounds that they may have time to waste talking about chocolate bars but normal people don't.

If they tried this on with a working father they'd get short shrift. But somehow mothers have to be at the school's beck and call.

At the very least I'd phone back and say you would like to know what the issue is so that you can be prepared for the meeting.

I've sneaked a tiny Halloween chocolate into both my children's lunch boxes...I've gone maverick

Naughty naughty Vegisgrowingwell I like your style!

I would call them up and rearrange the meeting until 15 minutes before you need to pick up your dd so you're not hanging around for an hour or so... Or to discuss once you have picked up your dd. Definitely not worth a special trip.

And also while there I would definitely question them on whether they mean anything with chocolate in or on, or chocolate bars like Dairy Milk or Mars or Double Decker or so on... As others have said - one thing to ban chocolate bars, very different to ban any hint of chocolate...

Surely they can't ban anything with a hint of chocolate in?! What are they expecting children to take for pudding as part of their packed lunch? And if chocolate/cocoa is a bad flavouring/small part of an item, then what about vanilla? or caramel? or mint? Or orange? What makes chocolate such a bad thing when compared to other 'sweet' flavours available? Or are they objecting to children having any sort of pudding at all given how difficult they are making it (and given that you have given fruit separately in the packed lunch so they can't answer with 'fruit'). (Oh and what would they do if you'd sent chocolate dipped strawberries? )

I would be pretty pissed off about them calling you in for a meeting over a chocolate biscuit, I think I would have asked them over the phone what the problem was?

I have always sent my dc’s to school with a chocolate bar/biscuit in their lunch bag, now they are at high school and both get free school meals but the meals are not great (packed lunch probably healthier).

I think most schools have a universal no treat policy. You sound like your daughter is having a lovely balanced diet with a treat etc.

Sadly a lot of children would just be given junk and more junk and so it’s more for their benefit. It is a shame though that you can’t give your child a biscuit with her lunch.

It could be that they have been told not to eat it for snack. we have a very strict snack policy, so nothing sugary or naughty - fruit, ideally, or a piece of cheese or yoghurt. Often children will bring up muffins, chocolate bars or cakes and ask if they can have them for snack and I always say no. This doesn't mean they can't have it at lunch, just not for break.

Also, as so many parents are completely feckless, the job of ensuring that your child is healthy is now another burden heaped on schools. We have to prove that we are making your child healthy as parents can't be trusted, apparently! If the school is due an OFSTED visit they will probably ask for evidence that school are doing this!

They have fruit/veg provided for snack there us no option to bring your own, plus break is at 10 something. Only 1/2 hour less to wait for my telling off now tho.

This makes me so glad I don’t have to deal with schools anymore. OP just hold your tongue and question them as to why? Question what is the difference between this a school pudding?

We've had this at DD's school and they've recently extended the 'no chocolate' to 'no biscuits' so no shortbread, fig rolls, garibaldi, plain hobnobs etc.
This is on top of no nuts, no crisps (inc the likes of mini cheddars), no sweets, no cereal bars.
Between what they consider acceptable and what she will actually eat I'm getting very fed up!

School dinners still get do nuts and chocolate custard tho :(

Bring a bucket of haribo and gorge on it while being told off

These threads always start me thinking. DS1 is 28, so they'd just started bringing in "healthy eating trays" when he was in primary school. If they'd policed packed lunches, what would they have done with him? He's on a high fat diet for medical reasons, and nutritional advice was to include a cake or a biscuit with his packed lunch. They'd have had to let him have his cake or biscuit, but would they have shut him away so other children didn't see what he'd got?

I think there's something like a child with his disease in every school in the UK, so I'd love to know how schools handle it.

I would honestly have questioned them about why it was necessary to call me into school to discuss a chocolate flavoured biscuit, if that is what they intend to do. There is far more sugar in the chocolate cake and chocolate custard they are serving with school dinner.

If it is about the nut content then they needed to make this rule clear long ago and didn't. Nor is it on the website. You will adhere to it in future, but would like them to also list your other child's honey allergy and ban honey - become a honey and nut free school.

Also, why is someone else putting their potentially unwashed hands into your DD's lunchbox? You know that they must have done this because they would not have known what was in her wrap without opening up the foil and the wrap itself to see.

I think you have much of your ammunition now. It will be interesting to see what they really have to say.

I can't see it taking over an hour. That's ridiculous. When they have finished with you insist that they get your children from their classrooms. They will have put you to enough unnecessary inconvenience, so the least they can do is let you all go home the minute it is over, without having to wait around or come back later.

Tempting (but wrong, so no) to take in a packet of chocolate biscuits to offer round at the meeting.

I always put a little treat cake in my daughters lunch bag, everything else is healthy and that's her little treat but she's really good she doesn't eat it unless she finishes everything else.

I've never been pulled for that, it seems strange that just one biscuit would call for an appointment with school. Perhaps look at the schools meal and dessert options, bet they offer a lot worse than that as desserts and could use that as a question of why you're being pulled in for it OP x

Sorry, never had a pick up bar before.

They are delicious - but very tiny. About the size of your thumb.

We've had this at DD's school and they've recently extended the 'no chocolate' to 'no biscuits' so no shortbread, fig rolls, garibaldi, plain hobnobs etc.
This is on top of no nuts, no crisps (inc the likes of mini cheddars), no sweets, no cereal bars

Obviously cold gruel is the way to go.

My favourite stupid rule at DCs school for lunch boxes is no sausage rolls, even vegetarian ones. The reason its my favourite is because they often serve the exact same vegetarian sausage roll for lunch that they've banned for health reasons in lunch boxes

The second favourite is they don't want a small bar of something like Dairy Milk due to sugar content but actively encourage cereal bars that have an equal is not greater sugar content.

Hope your telling off goes well.

Bring a bucket of haribo and gorge on it while being told off

I would be soooooo tempted to do this!

And for the mother whose chocolate bar was devoured by the staff disappeared - go in and demand a replacement! (Sorry - it was early in the thread and I forget who you were)

It's really ridiculous - you aren't feeding your children slug pellets, FFS. There's no reason why they can't have a treat.

I can't see it taking over an hour. That's ridiculous. When they have finished with you insist that they get your children from their classrooms.

Or turn it into a 'wonderful opportunity' to spend an hour discussing how your child is settling in and her academic progress as clearly you and they allowed an hour for this meeting so you want to maximise the benefits from it.

OP if you got told off for that biccie, I am going to be told off for the mini jammie dodgers I put in my daughters lunch box.

Oh! And let us know what happens. (Probably you will receive a week in the stocks. Tell us where you are and we will come and feed you with mimi mars bars.)