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?

Yep. Our primary had a sandwich station where the kids made their own. “What did you have at after school club, darling?” “A lemon curd and honey sandwich.” Great…sugar syrup on white bread. 😒

Oh dear god

Children actually need sugar as part of a healthy diet

on a thread full of various bollocks this really takes the prize.

would you like to try to explain what nutrition is in sugar?

you can't because there isn't any

@JBeanGarden I think that a ham sandwich is probably worse for her health than a jam sandwich because ham is normally very over processed, as are many meats that come ready sliced. Actually some of the ready sliced cheeses can be over processed as well.

One overly processed protein a week would probably be a satisfactory compromise - as dammit they usually taste so good, I'm particularly thinking of a bacon sandwich here 🤤 - but that includes eating at home as well. Of course, if the school tried hard enough they could probably manage to buy a cheap strawberry jam, with both far too much sugar, and quite a few added emulsifiers etc as well!

But it does seem ridiculous OPthat the school is so strict on what a child can eat during the normal school day, and then ruin all of that because they can't be bothered to provide a nutritious sandwich and a choice of a banana or a satsuma, or maybe even a few fresh strawberries when they are in season.

As a PP said, they should only be providing a snack anyway, so maybe 2 quarters of a round of a sandwich, and a small piece of fruit. Otherwise, with the colder weather, maybe they could provide a mug of a child friendly nutritious soup, and a small roll? I agree with you OP that 4 days a week is far too often to be having a jam sandwich and a piece of commercially made cake, and of course a 4 year old child shouldn't be expected to police themselves over what food they eat!

Good luck JBean, please be careful though if you do take things any further with the school, as it wouldn't do you, or your DD, any favours if they decide you are one of "those" mums - which would be totally unfair I know, but you have a lot of years to go through, hopefully without a degrading and undeserved, label. 🌻

Hmm. Whilst no shits would be lost over jam sandwich, we bought out ASC a airfryer so they could make toasties and wraps.

OP this would be a good PTA donation. Go in with a constructive suggestion rather than criticism. Hearts and minds!

If it's such good after-school care try stop making such a fuss about something quite trivial and be grateful there is something that works and is affordable. Most people don't have that.
Or remove her so you can continue her nutritional education at home.
You sound like such fun. She's 4. She's not going to get diabetes from a few jam sarnies every week.

She is having a hot meal at home isn't she? Op was unclear, although I haven't read the entire thread. Providing a decent meal is being given at home, I think it's fine for the afternoon snack.

Are you sure you got that right? Because there is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today

email them to check

Very hard to Avoid upfs- porridge is, as is cheese, as is bread! The jam we buy is st Dalfour which is pure fruit with no sugar. As other posters have said, ham is worse and it truly is. There is no ham product that isn’t UPF. I would relax on the jam - it’s fine.

These are not UPF

Give a proper dinner a bit later when she is hungry enough. It shouldn't be their dinner, its a snack. Main issue here is its sounds like you cba making a proper dinner and expect the wraparound to be good enough so you can feel better about this.

Avoiding upf is a good idea to aim for but from what I've seen on upf groups a lot of people lean so hard into it they are giving their DC homemade food with tons of butter, cream and sugar...but it's ok because 'they're not upf'.

Pick your battles, OP.
It’s a jam sandwich.
They all end up wanting McDonald’s and Haribo anyway.

Is it Bonne Maman? If not I'd be fuming too.

Youre dead right. You should pack up and move somewhere else where schools all align with your views and reply to your important emails in a timely fashion.

If it was just once or twice a week I wouldn’t care, or even if it was just a jam sandwich OR pudding it might not be so bad. But if a parent came on here and said ‘is it bad that most nights I just give my child a jam sandwich and a pudding’… that person would be lynched! I don’t see why they can’t provide something more nutritious and less ultra processed.

Can you send her with something instead?

It’s shocking how rude some people are, she’s asking advice if you have nothing nice to say then don’t bother! We in this country eat terrible food all the time and don’t have clue about what is bad or good for us and someone who is trying to keep her child on a good eating plan is getting told to bore off basically it’s ridiculous! Shame on you unhealthy bar stewards!

I’m trying to get my head round this? Do they give them a piece and jam and a pudding?
we make our own jam just brambles and sugar 😂 and a wee drop lemon

You're comparing a parent giving it to 1 child though and it's meant as a snack, not dinner. ASC have to cater to multiple children and then add in dietary needs, any allergies etc as well as trying to keep costs down because parents would soon moan if ASC cost went up.

Hard disagree. Doesn’t matter who gives the child sugary ultra processed crap, they shouldn’t be eating it.

And it is effectively dinner if the child is too full from the sugary crap to eat dinner when she gets home… as the OP has already mentioned.

My kids attended a Scandi ASC and smoked horse meat was a regular sandwich topping - as was fish roe paste and caramelised cheese 😁

On school trips there was often a Reindeer sandwich!

On cold winter days there was also blueberry soup!

(I just learned to keep my mouth shut)

What sort of microwave do you have where you can make 50+ jacket potatoes in a short period after school?

I'm fairly certain the OP is not prepared to pay extra for the kind of food she thinks would be appropriate to give her child at ASC.

Ultimately it comes down to this. If the OP feels so strongly, she can make other provision or supply her own food for her child to take with them.

Neither you nor the OP is looking at this from the pov of the provider.

Well then the OP supplies the food for their child themselves. Problem solved.

Then OP needs to be prepared to pay more for ASC or pack a snack for her child to eat instead.

Most bread is as is cheese. Pretty much all porridge is processed and the flavoured ones etc are all upf.