School packed lunch.

[Weedinosaurus]

I really don’t think I’m being U here but before I go to the school, I’m after feedback about dds packed lunch.

Dd is in Y4 and is taking her own lunch for the first time. She’s always had school lunches.
I’ve just received an email from school advising me to consider the content and portion size in dds lunch box and to ask the school if I need advice on providing an appropriate lunch.

Example lunch for dd today is:
Ham sandwich on wholemeal bread (1 slice of bread)
3 cherry tomatoes
Cucumber and pepper sticks
A pot of chopped strawberrries
A packet of quavers
Fromage Frais

For break time snack she took a banana.

I get that ham isn’t great and the quavers could be better, but isn’t it about balance?

I’m sure that’s an okay lunch? Or am I just uneducated?

Tell me before I look daft by asking the school what the problem is.

Dd is active and not overweight.

Blimey OP they must have some time on their hands at your school! How odd to send out an email without specifcally telling you the problem. And making an appointment about it? If it's a small school a phone call would be much quicker! Madness.

I too have seen some horror lunches in my years of teaching. Kids spending their whole dinner money on 5 blue ice lollies (particularly memorable), or a big tube of icing from the shop (yup, actually happened), or bringing an actual lunchbox that's filled with 4 types of crisps and 5 chocolate bars.

There is nothing wrong with the lunch you sent. As the mum of a fussy 3 year old I'd be delighted if he ate that much.

It's probably just the size of it. I used to send my 3-4 year old to preschool with the same size lunch (except maybe a babybel instead of crisps) and the staff then commented that most children had a larger amount of food - a full sandwich, or half a sandwich plus a sausage roll, plus a kitkat or something. And I considered my DC quite a big eater!

Her lunch just looks a lot smaller than most of the other children's lunches I would guess, but if she's satisfied and active and a healthy weight etc then I wouldn't change anything.

There is a difference between a three year old and an eight year old though,

Op, I also think thr lunch was ok, just maybe low on the actual lunch part and am simply trying to see where the school maybe coming from.

Crisps and yoghurt will be seen as afters, things you eat if you're still hungry after you eat your main savoury lunch. All they can see is a kid who got one slice of bread and a slice of ham for their lunch. Hence an email asking if you need help with portion size and nutrition. 🤷‍♀️

ham is fine crisps are fine.and repeat.

This is one of the reasons why I'm glad I home educate. That's a perfectly reasonable lunch. In fact overall it's pretty healthy.

It doesn’t sound a lot, have you tallied up her daily cals?

I know she’s saying she’s satisfied but if she’s used to eating that she’s bound to not say any different.

Being very active and having a small appetite can’t be good for anyone.

Fgs, why do they think they know better than you do how much your child will eat?! As for the content - it's fine. I would send a polite-ish but sharply-worded reply to the effect that you're perfectly capable of feeding your own child approoriately thank you very much.

I think there is nothing wrong with the lunch box contents you prepared, when my kids had school lunches, because they were polite and knew how to use a knife and fork correctly (absolute truth) they were sat on tables with a group of kids that didn’t use a knife and fork correctly in order to show them! And then the dinner ladies would give extras to my kids!

Lunchbox policing is one of my biggest gripes with primary school. I'd reply and tell them to fuck off.

Actually my mum DID do that when I was at school. Taped a note to my lunchbox which said in capital letters something along the lines of "NeverSay can eat what she wants"

teenagetantrums

Too right! You have to children things they like and are going to eat at lunchtime. Most of us do a nice, nourishing and tasty meal in the evening.

I wonder what ours would have said about one slice of wholemeal bread, carrot and celery sticks!

It doesn’t sound a lot, have you tallied up her daily cals?

Does anyone actually really do this? I mean for a child with no health concerns?
I would not have the faintest idea how many cals my kids eat - they just eat. Meals, some snacks, some treats.

Lunchbox policing is one of my biggest gripes with primary school.

Me too, and I'm a teacher (but secondary). In particular, schools that police lunchboxes but serve unhealthy school dinner items and allow sweets to be given out make me livid!

Since when have schools decided they are the lunch police.
You know your DDS preference of food and the amount better than anybody else.

@TheOrigFV45 I don’t, but the school are questioning the child’s diet and to do this, they must have a solid reason.

Also, in regards to eating and activity, not eating enough can really screw up your bones, can it not? It would have to get pretty bad before it was obvious.

I wasn’t being malicious in my comment, but OP doesn’t see anything wrong with the child’s diet, and that’s fine- but she might not be eating enough for the physical activity she is engaging in.

You’d expect school to say something regarding a child that’s overweight, not eating enough is just as bad as overeating.

The troubel with this sort of nonsense - griping over what is a perfectly acceptable lunch for your child - is that it comes over as being a school that makes a fuss over everyone;s lunchbox and nit picks over the food.
If people believe that then those children that actually are having a very unhealthy lunch will slip through the net because parents will ignore any lunch related messages from the school.

When I worked in schools I saw children who brought four sweet pudding tubs for their lunch (trifle pots, chocolate mousse, mini cheesecakes etc) and nothing else, children who brought in half a cold portion of fish and chips left over from the night before - still wrapped in newspaper, a child with a fruit pie covered in mould and nothing else in his lunch box, etc etc, These are the children who need looking out for, not kids with a perfectly normal kids packed lunch.

You’d expect school to say something regarding a child that’s overweight.

No I wouldn't. And anyway, by that argument, the school should be saying something if the OP's child were underweight, not if the child is eating a bit less than they think she should for one of her meals of the day. Ffs.

That's probably more than what my Y4 DD is eating for lunches right now - yesterday she had some leftover sliced chicken breast, a pack of mini cheddars, 5 cherry tomatoes, a pot of strawberries, and a shortbread biscuit.

She ate most of it but left some of the chicken, and wasn't hungry for snack after school. She's growing like a weed so I think she pretty much lives on air!

My thoughts would be that it's either generic or not enough. My year one takes a two slice of bread ham sandwich, a yoghurt, a small chocolate biscuit or cake (like a mini roll or kinder hippo for example), fruit either apple, banana, blueberries and a couple of crackers with some cheese and comes home with an empty lunchbox.

My ds is like a bottomless pit for food though like his dad, he eats a lot but is very slight. If he ate like his peers he'd be tiny (he's already one of the slimmest and shortest in his class as well as one of the oldest)

If your dd is happy with her lunch and is healthy I would be summarily ignoring the school. It sounds perfectly healthy to me.

That is more food than I send for my 10yo and what I send always comes back with some uneaten. Some kids just don’t eat much at lunch.

There have been a few times I packed something in dd’s Lunch and she protested it was unnecessary. I told her it was just because the school might complain if I only sent her with grapes and cheese cubes. So the crackers are there just in case she is hungry. If she doesn’t eat them, I just put them back in the pantry.

Just a thought (because this is what my y4 does) is she dipping into it at break, so there isn’t much left at lunch?

Could you try wraps instead of sandwiches OP? Bit less bready. Also you could replace the crisps with popcorn maybe, or houmous with carrot and cucumber sticks? I do think the school should keep their nose out though, I'd be annoyed if they policed my DCs packed lunches (they'd have a field day with the chocolate animal biscuits I gave them today)!

Email them back:-

Thank you for your concern regarding the contents of Tinyweedinosaurs lunchbox. Her lunch was specifically chosen to nutritionally complement her other daily meals and snacks that have been, and will be, served at home, should you require a daily print out or indeed any further assistance regarding this do not hesitate to contact me.

Lunchably yours,

Weedinosaur.

@VividImagination love that reply, and I'd add about feeling free to request a full nutritional breakdown and calorie count, although it may take a few months