Jam sandwiches at wraparound care

[JBeanGarden]

My reception age DD goes to a really well arranged breakfast club and after school club 4 days a week. It works very well with 2 commuting parents. I only have one gripe and that is with the food they offer. Technically the food should align with the school’s healthy eating policy, as it’s run by the school not an external provider. The school has asked parents not to provide sweet treats in lunch boxes and it’s quite strict about sandwiches.

HOWEVER the school is not transparent about the wraparound food offer and I had to email three times to get them to tell me what they provide. Once they did, they disclosed that the after school options include a range of sandwiches, including jam, plus a pudding of cake and fruit. Of course, my four-year-old always goes for a jam sandwich and ends up with a very sweet tea 4 days a week. The school says they offer carrot sticks etc, however, not one single parent has ever mentioned this in conversation and so I just think it’s something they say but don’t provide.

We do talk at home about the importance of a balanced diet, but she’s still only four and temptation is there! She’s offered something a bit more nutritionally balanced she gets home, but she’s usually just full of jam sandwich!

I emailed the school to ask them if they are able to comment on this or if they ever review the food that they provide at wraparound care, but I haven’t received a reply. AIBU to push this further?

Yawn

I thought it was a snack , I would expect it to be that not a meal 🤔

It’s not a meal though, it’s a snack.

we don’t know what time she is having dinner. Maybe she could move dinner a little later if she’s too full for veg.

Or again, send a snack in with her.

ASC used to report that my DS1 would regularly eat 6 slices of toast 🙈(junior school)

Me too.

After a very stressful morning I’ve just taken my teenager to Greggs for a pizza.

My 4 year old is always ravenous after school so it may be meant as a snack but if offered a large portion of something like this after school my own child would have so much of it it would definitely spoil my lovely healthy dinner. She’d essentially be eating it as her last meal of the day.

Posts like this make me laugh. It’s a jam sandwich not a Yorkie. If you want to completely control what your child eats after school, pay for an after school
nanny or look after her yourself.

Ham?! But processed meat is a cancer risk! Cheese?! Full of salt and fat!

Throwing a hissy fit because you don't like the replies you're getting, frankly speaks volumes. You need to climb down from your ivory tower, take many deep breaths, look in the mirror and get a grip of yourself.

The best way to encourage children to eat healthily is to lead by example. We put lots of healthy food on our plates, our DC then wanted what we had, job done.

All schools are the same. If you can't care for your children after the school day then be grateful wraparound care exists and accept what is on offer - don't be THAT parent. Wraparound care (WAC) provision is outside the school day (policies) so you need to learn to accept that your child will not make the healthy choices you hope for. Pick your battles more carefully - you have no control whatsoever on this - so let it go, it's a tiny part of their weekly diet. On a limited budget, often with genuine food allergies or plain fussy kids, the wraparound care people do not have time to persuade your DC to have carrot sticks instead of the sandwiches everyone else is having. Have you even seen the offending jam sandwiches? They have the bare minimum jam because they need to make it go as far as possible.

WAC was a new thing when mine were at school, mostly they chose healthily because it was what they were used to at home but crucially, I never forced healthy options on them nor gave them a hard time if they had chocolate spread/jam etc.

Jam is not remotely 'filling' and this has nothing to do with having a low bar for nutrition 🙄 it's simply the real world. If you don't like it, make your own snack for DC, take them out of wraparound care or, get a childminder to take them, then you CAN dictate their snacks.

The margins are so tight for food there but if you aren’t allowed jam in packed lunch boxes then shouldn’t be allowed at ASC

cab you tell them to stop giving your child a choice and pick for her

It baffles me that you would consider ham or cheese sandwiches ok but have an issue with jam. The filling is going to be very minimal of any option. The processed bread is probably crap, and full of sugar anyway. Processed ham or cheese aren’t health foods. But I’m vegan so probably biased.

It’s not the end of the world, hopefully you can continue offering healthier choices at home. I find it’s all just trying to get a decent balance with young kids. Some days I feel like mine have a great diet, other days especially if they are under the weather, they only eat beige.

Well that's more an issue with the timing of meals. In which case, surely you'd be better off sending a healthy packed lunch type offering in with her, if she's going to be ready for her last meal of the day before you're ready to collect her.

Schools are struggling with budgets.
They are trying their best.

If having a jam sandwich at school is your biggest worry, then count yourself lucky. And I mean this in the kindest way.

Send your child with a packed tea if you’re unhappy with the situation.

Good grief! I bet you're fun at parties 🤣🤣🤣

So you're completely breezy about diet around her? I'm going to guess based on your comments on this thread that you're definitely not! The last thing you want is your child growing up with issues around food.

Why is a jam sandwich as a snack not acceptable? I still love a jam sandwich now and then as an adult and it is a staple snack in many houses.

There are far worse things to offer a child than a jam sandwich.

I remember picking my 2 girls up from school at 3pm ( didn’t have after school care ) and I would put the tea on there and then and it stopped them picking later , they had a plate of cereal going to bed

I completely agree with you. Basically your child is having a sugar sandwich. Appalling for teeth, for establishing eating patterns and for preventing obesity.
The parents getting angry with you indicated to me just how we have so many eating related issues. All of these people will say that their children’s teeth are fine, they are not obese, they eat healthily the rest of the time etc but these bad habits are set in childhood. Large studies sho that we have the highest ever issues in the uk and are beginning to be worse than the US.Look at the number of women who think obesity is fine because the”average”uk dress size has risen to a size 14 to 16.
Giving a child toast and hummus for eg is no more expensive than jam. When my kids were at school it would be veg with dips, piece of fruit and cheese, toast with hummus or cottage cheese,sandwich with cucumber, plain popcorn. That type of stuff. We had the battle then with parents who wanted cake, jam sandwich and crisps insisting it was cheaper, it is not! I have just done some quick checks on wholesale prices and stand by this being the same now.

The amount of people thinking a jam sandwich 4 days a week is a “perfectly okay” food for a 4yo child, be it a snack or tea, is crazy. No wonder the UK has a childhood obesity epidemic.

And comparing a cheese sandwich to being the same as a jam sandwich is just mind boggling. One has 0 nutritional value and is objectively bad for teeth, the other at least has protein in it and is not sugary.

That’s what my grandson has a piece n jam ( brown bread 😂)

Then pay more for wrap around clubs or get your kids collected by a nursery after school.

What on earth do you think is wrong with bread, butter and jam for a snack in the context of an otherwise healthy diet?

She's not hungry after the jam sandwich! It's worse to force a not hungry child to eat.

@JBeanGarden if you're still reading...

in your situation I'd just 'ride it out' I wouldn't be happy, but you won't get anywhere with ASC. It won't be long before DD is hungry enough to eat something nutritious at home afterwards & I wouldn't be happy with the (UPF cheap 'cheese' or cheap 'ham' either)

4/27 meals a week are currently jam sandwiches, FAR from Ideal, but if she's happy at ASC & you need her to be there, then I'd just make sure the other 23 meals are as healthy as possible (with any offer 'treats' small after meals)

Then give up work collect your children at 3pm and feed them yourself.

My daughters are fine 1 is a personal trainer, no weight issues and teeth that you would remortgage yer house for , but they believe in teeth care

White bread in the UK is full of UPFs. Jam, particularly and especially store bought one is full of sugar and has almost no fruits so 0 nutritional value. It’s essentially a sugar bomb - horrible for the teeth, horrible for the gut. Read up on it.