Juice in school

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My DD’s teacher is being very combative about her taking juice to school (primary) in a clear drinking bottle. He says it’s against school healthy eating standards, but if she brings it in a non clear bottle it’s fine! She brings a very healthy lunch and has perfect teeth. She is also very sporty . She point blank refuses to drink water. Yet others in her class bring crisps and chocolate and nothing is said .
AIBU to stick with the (new) clear bottle?
i dislike petty rules that have no bearing on her education ! Especially when the rules are not enforced for others !

And soon they’re all shooting up in the toilets…

Juice isn’t comparable to fizzy pop, certainly not energy drinks which I’m pretty sure would be flagged as a safeguarding concern for a primary aged child.

I was exaggerating with the energy drink but certainly wouldn’t put it past parents to try and put fizzy drinks in the bottle. Bend a rule for one and you will have parents on the phone. Inevitable. I’m a teacher.

Exactly!

But the rules can be bent for some with genuine reasons as I’ve said above. Some parents will always take the piss, part of the job unfortunately.

If you give your child water from birth then they will not think twice about drinking water.

Probably shouldn’t have to say this, but do not give children water ‘from birth’. Under the age of 1, breast or formula is the nutrients they need (until 6 months absolute minimum). And sugar obviously should be avoided for as long as possible, especially whilst teeth are erupting. Giving young/primary school children juice isn’t the end of the world in moderation though.

Well yeah and this teacher is bending the rules by saying use a non clear bottle so no one knows. If the juice was in a clear one he knows parents will be on the phone. I think that’s fair enough really and don’t see the issue.

This.
And I say this as the child who wouldn't drink water!

No! No teacher will allow children to be drinking those in lesson time (rightly). Completely unnecessary. If a child refuses to drink water they can’t really be thirsty.

If he allows it in a clear bottle for your dd everyone will want to bring juice in and he'll be probably be in trouble with slt for allowing it or they'll crack down even harder on water only. He's doing you a favour here by saying put it in a non clear bottle so he 'doesn't know'.

It is the school rule but she was told by the teacher just put it in a non clear bottle and nobody will know . That’s what I find unacceptable

Then don't do it if you don't find it acceptable. Follow the 'water only' rule. The teacher is trying to meet you half way, but you seem hell bent on thinking yours is the only acceptable way. Can't you understand why they don't want juice in clear bottles? The school years are going to be a real battle field for you and your DD if you can't reach a compromise on these things.

I remember all of this too. How did the DC survive?

I hate petty rules for rules sake, but you are being unreasonable here. From your posts, the school rule seems to be no juice. You've broken that rule, and insist you'll keep breaking it because your child doesn't like drinking water. The teacher is giving you an 'out' by saying he'll turn a blind eye if you put the juice in a different bottle. So either do that, or obey the rules and send your child in with water (or nothing - not having a drink at school isn't going to harm her, unless she has a health condition). Why are you wasting the school's time by being petty and argumentative about this?

We were drinking sherry!

Actually, a drink bottle of squash can pretty quickly reach the recommended daily intake of sugar for a child.

Yes, most have artificial sweeteners these days, but those have their own issues. For a start, it creates the situation as with a previous poster, where people just get used to the sweet taste, and continue to crave it.

I am going to explain this to you...

The teacher hasn't set the rules - the school has. This is mainly for health reasons - sugar on teeth all day is not good. Spilt juice is not good. Spilt water is fine.

The teacher has explained that if the squash is in a coloured bottle, it will not be noticed by him or the other children, so would be ok.

He doesn't want other children noticing squash in a clear bottle and thinking they can all bring squash in as this causes problems for him and for the children's parents...

For example, I would never send my child to school with squash as I prefer them to have water in the day rather than sugary drinks - if my child came home saying someone has squash and they want to too, this would be very annoying and make my life difficult.

He has given you an option to keep it quiet and ensure your child will drink at school.

You are teaching your child to flout rules with this ridiculous entitled attitude. If you choose to put squash in a coloured bottle - you are the one teaching your child to be sneaky. That is your choice.The teacher is allowing this as he doesn't have time to police the bottles and wouldn't notice what was in them if they are not clear....

Squash in a clear bottle will be pointed out by the other children and then he has to do something about it. Squash in a coloured bottle won't be noticed.

I hope that explains it for you.

This. 100% this. OP please really pay attention to this post, it couldn't be clearer.

Main reason why no juice or squash or flavoured water in bottles..... ants. The bottles are often on the floor or outside and yes ants love all three sweetness.

We can't use any powder so end up washing all the bottles.

Jesus wept. Parents like you will push me out of teaching eventually.

I don't give a toss what is in your kids water bottle but if I'm told to enforce a whole school policy/ it's going to cause drama with other kids then I'm going to have to say something.

If you don't want your kid to be sneaky then she'll have to drink water. Or move schools but I expect you'd be a nightmare at any school.

I used to be a teacher and never understood all this ridiculousness about water bottles from some parents. When I was at primary school in the 80s there were water fountains if we were thirsty (thankfully not any more because they were so unhygienic) and at lunch time nobody was allowed to bring a drink in the packed lunch (to stop leaks happening I think) and we all had to drink water from big jugs in the dining hall, no other drinks to be had. And we all just…drank water. Because that was the school rule. Surely these days there’s no problem - if your child doesn’t like water, send in water in a water bottle anyway in case they get very thirsty (it’s amazing what they’ll eat or drink if all their friends are doing the same), but drink at breakfast, drink in their packed lunch, meet them with a drink after school if you just. There is no need to be causing issues for school staff by sending in squash when you’ve been told not to.

Sounds like teacher sees your child won't drink enough otherwise so is offering a solution that doesn't mean all the kids demand squash. Ideally everyone would have water but as you've said that's no possible for your child this helps ward off any issues.