After-school food provision

[Bananacentral]

Not sure if AIBU or not - is this an ok food provision???

DS who is 6 goes to afterschool club - 3:15-5ish but it opens until 6pm. I’ve always been a bit dubious about the “snack” served but as he’s my only child and not many mum friends to ask I’m not sure if what they provide is ok or awful!

Today I collected him and he had a single rice cake with a ton of jam on top, he said they could have had an apple but that all the other children had gotten their first and eaten them.

This is the first time I’ve known rice cake, but other days the snacks are: waffles (sweet prepackaged), raw crumpets, chocolate brioche, cheese and crackers (2 x small crackers). Sometimes there is enough fruit, other times he’ll go without if the other children get there first and they run out.

Totally prepared to be told this is standard if it is, but considering writing email to ask about review of what’s provided etc (or whether they’ll reduce cost if I send with own snack!)

You literally need a small fridge which I’m sure most schools have/ can get. Our school doesn’t have a kitchen and all food for lunch is brought in by outside caterers. They still manage to make a sandwich.

Absolutely not having a go, but would you consider changing the peanut butter for another type of sandwich. Schools, peanuts and kids that are to young to not get food on their hands then touch their friend make a bad combination.

If Ds is in the longer after school session ( past 16.30) he is given food . It is on a rota - wraps , fish fingers , sausages , beans on toast and pizza on Friday . He only has a lighter tea if I pick him up at 5 . I pay £5 a day .

DS6 only charge £6 until 5.30pm. It's always the same - ham/cheese sandwich and 1-2 biscuits.
He's happy enough and he eats plenty of fruit and veg through the day and at home.

It's pretty standard..not ideal but they don't often have facilities or staff to make anything.
And many parents won't want them to have too much and ruin their dinner.

That assumes the asc is run by the school themselves when many are not.

Outside providers, especially low cost ones have access to the hall or rooms they host the club in plus the toilets in many settings.

And if you are making the sandwiches you need food hygiene certs and the facilities to make them. To buy them in can be cost prohibitive.

He doesn’t eat it at school. He eats it on the way home! It’s his favourite and I love the fact it’s a good source of protein!

In that case they should provide more more fruit and veg sticks, and less sugary prepackaged snacks. It really doesn’t have to be sugar sugar sugar!

I was about to say the exact same thing !

I was under the impression that children had snacks at ASC as they'd have a proper meal at home.
That was the intention at the school I worked at.
No mid day supervisors or cooks were available at that time of the day.

Thanks for all the replies

The cost is £11

and yes, sorry I meant cold out the packet crumpets, which to me is raw as I cannot imagine an uncooked crumpet!

I just feel like today probably just threw me - a single rice cake and jam just really doesn’t strike me as an actual snack!

I do think as it’s school run (and they go very hard on the open days about how healthy and amazing their food provision is) they should just at least consider it being a bit more balanced. I totally get not having facilities as I think their main food is bought in off site.

ill look at sending in something with him and just send a polite email!

It doesn't sound great and there should be enough food for everyone. As to why ASCs don't offer better food though, it's sometimes really simple things - access to a fridge as described but also access to the shops to buy the stuff. Paying a member of staff to do the shopping, if there's not a shop in the same village as the school, all adds to the cost. Ours only does a shop once a week for this reason. They also only have access to a toaster and limited fridge space. There is fruit every day though.

It does sound poor. If they are providing fruit, they need to provide enough for all children to have a piece. Rice cakes are fine, but jam is inappropriate imo, they could provide something else shelf-stable like cheese spread. I wouldn't expect them to cook, but it's not difficult to provide a nutritious snack. Raw crumpets is just lazy and revolting.

Another reason why they offer stuff like that is that kids will eat it.

We went through a stage of having vvvv healthy stuff in, after a parent complained.

The same parent then complained again when her child left hungry as they didn’t want the healthy stuff.

It was also a complete waste of limited funds as so much of it went uneaten.

Crumpets out the packet aren’t raw. They’re just not hot or toasted .

Ours does soup, wraps, sandwiches or similar. They make it clear that it's not meant to be a proper meal and that they can't use the school kitchen. They do have a mini kitchen but think it only has a fridge and a couple of microwaves.

That sounds very poor to me.

How much is the after school club? Ours is £13 a day for 3.15pm - 6pm and the menu this week is:

Make your own wraps with cheese/ ham/ salad
Pasta bake
Soup and a roll

And all children get fruit and yoghurt after the meal.

I was lulled in to a false sense of security with this, as my daughter went to preschool that was part of a school and for £12 they were served a sandwich tea/soup/sausage rolls etc plus fruit, yogurt, cake etc. with a cooked meal at lunch, as far as I was concerned that was dinner done!

new school it’s £16.50 and they get things like toast and fruit and a yogurt, but no one actually makes them sit down and eat so sometimes she will have had almost nothing as she’s too busy playing. So I collect at 6pm and then have to try and squeeze food in before bedtime at 7. Not ideal. Didn’t realise how lucky we were previously!!

im surprised at how sugary all the things your son is offered are OP, and also think it’s unacceptable that they don’t have fruit available for everyone.

I work in a primary school and in our after school club, the majority of the children have a separate lunch box to the ones that they would have at lunchtime (if not school dinners). I think that's the expectation for ASC in the school I work at. I can't see what would be wrong with doing that? You get more of a say in what your child is eating that way.

I'm a bit surprised at the snacks you're describing though, I can imagine maybe they'd give the children toast or something possibly but the pre packed stuff you've described sounds a bit poor form for a primary school in a post Jamie Oliver world. I don't think the ASC in my school provides snacks aside from a selection of fruit. I guess it varies wherever you go. I have a DD who is a long way off going to school yet but I wouldn't be happy with her having stuff like that either.