Parents complaining about this in school?

[WillowAnn]

DC are not properly watched whilst eating at dinner time and allowed to just go outside whenever they’re finished. So they could basically have no dinner or just a very small amount and then go out to play. Staff don’t advise them to eat more or say they can’t go out until they’ve eaten. Parents are complaining. Any thoughts?

I wouldn’t want the school dictating how much my child does or doesn’t eat. It’s healthier for them to eat to their appetite not some predetermined amount by the teachers.

Do they want them to force feed the children or make them sit there all lunchtime?

Ask your children to eat their lunch. Children do have responsibility.
Ours have never been watched for amount of food eaten only behavouir at lunch time.

even in schools with packed lunches this is an issue, when my kids were in school the staff asked the kids to put the fruit in a basket vs the bin.
eating should not be monitored for consumption or forced.

Any thoughts?

You first.

How do you know that this what happens?

I don’t want staff to monitor what my child eats, but I would want staff around at that time to keep an eye on bullying (even though they would ignore it anyway)

Primary or secondary?

Primary usually has midday supervisors around to supervise the children, but it's not part of their job to make the children eat.

If your child is having problems eating then you can ask for additional support.

Let children have autonomy over their bodies in regards to how hungry or not hungry they are perhaps?

Schools can't win.

Sounds great. No point staying sat in front of food you don't want to eat.

Better than force feeding. If the kids are hungry they will eat the food before going off to play.

Why worry? As long as they have a decent meal when they get home, they'll be OK. You could give your children a snack to take in for break time.

It isn't the schools responsibility to monitor food intake of all children. Of course if there is an eating disorder or a legitimate issue the school will step in but not other than that.

I am a teaching assistant who also covers lunch, and we really cannot win. If we try encourage children to eat more a parent may complain that we are forcing them and if a child goes home saying they didn't eat their lunch and go home hungry they are quick to write an email accusing us of neglecting their needs! This and water bottles are the biggest complaints we get- the water bottles are available all day to the children but its our fault of they barely drink!

DD’s school used to force them to eat or else they wouldn’t be allowed to go out and play, even if they weren’t hungry or didn’t like what was on offer. It drove me absolutely insane as DD was fussy with the appetite of a bird when she was younger - lunch times became a battle ground between her and the teaching assistants. Kids know if they’re hungry or not and don’t need school staff telling them what they ‘have to’ eat.

Teachers and lunchtime assistants/supervisors are not there to force children to eat food that they don't want. Back off and stop being daft.

You can say to a child 'are you sure you don't want any more?' before they go. You can't force feed 90 or however many children. Nor should you.

Lots of children just don't like school dinners but obviously with FSM understandably lots are on them. Or children go off stuff or don't like the look of it. I'm afraid it's parents responsibility to provide something their children will eat. Just pack your child an extra snack or sandwich if you are that worried.

DD's school have a good balance imo.

They don't get involved with what the children eat or don't eat. However, the kids all sit in the dining hall for the full sitting (30 mins) and are allowed to read or chatter to friends when they're finished, but they don't get out into the playground until the 30 mins is up.

Dd used to skip most of her lunch to play. Now she eats it. Apparently a lot of the kids are the same

Ours have to put their hand up to see what has been eaten before they can have their dessert.

Actually it is the schools responsibility to monitor food is a good standard, waste is reduced, children are eating and not storing food, food is not taken off a child, children have a good meal as some bring a bag of crisps each day, to ensure good manners, allows children to eat with friends and have a positive dining experience is created. FSM are likely to be bullied more than non FSM and may rush to get out or not eat to get out faster. FSM are the most at risk of cyber bullying and again may not eat well to get out of putting themselves in a situation they may be bullied about when at home online. They should be able to use a knife and fork and not spray children with food when they speak.

You can't do this without a whole-school approach, where you monitor the whole lunchtime, including those not eating, to ensure there is no problem lurking.

I feel a bit conflicted about this, DD thought she absolutely had to finish her lunchbox (not Uk) so she would clear it out and then her teacher would say “I think she needs a bit more food” and I ended up bulking it up and then I realised she was stuffing herself with food to get her teachers approval. It took a year for her eating to return to normal and for her to stop eating so much she was creaking.

At her new school they do keep an eye but theres no encouragement to finish everything just to eat something. Now she sometimes comes home with a completely empty lunchbox and needs more food and sometimes she’s only eaten half and it’s fine. It really messed with her hunger signals and appetite. I don’t actually care how much she eats (she’s always been an enthusiastic eater) thats entirely up to her but her eating started looking really disordered to me.

I think it’s reasonable to keep an eye and communicate to parents if a child is just not eating but otherwise I’m really anti interfering with how much they eat or don’t eat.

Eating when not hungry is not a healthy habit. Why would you want your children to develop it?

I've got memories of screaming crying children being force fed in the 90s, so no I think it's far better to let them lead when it comes to eating.

Bloody hell. I still remember our miserable dinner lady standing over me and refusing to let me go outside until I had eaten all of the revolting school dinner. I still remember crying because I hated the food.