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?

I mean jam is a fairly melty solid.

You seem to be absolutely missing the point of OP’s thread.

It’s not about taking your DC to Greggs once in a while because you’re tired of cooking. It’s not about feeding them chicken nuggets from time to time because you’re out of time to cook dinner from scratch. It’s not about taking them out for a cake at the weekend. It’s not about giving them the occasional treat. It’s not about baking them a homemade dessert made with ingredients our grannies had in their cupboards.

It’s about feeding them crap 4 days a week at a childcare setting that they HAVE to attend in order for the parents to work such long hours because the economy is so dire.

It’s about the expectations from parents to provide a healthy lunch box, but then turning around and not following their own rules when it comes to wraparound.

It’s about feeding growing children food with 0 nutrition, which is just empty calories when they need healthy fats, protein and good carbs.

I cringe at your comprehension skills.

H, J or C, pretty standard. During Covid we prepared packed lunches for children on FSM to collect. The parents could choose weekly though. It was accompanied by whatever crisps, fruit, yoghurt, or biscuits we could lay our hands on. Also a healthy eating school. Maybe you could suggest a parents tickbox system.

I came here to say this! I would prefer jam to ham any day!

And I cringe at your grasp of economic reality.

other than sending in own snacks, which is perfectly feasible and has been suggested, what is your alternative suggestion that would be the same price, cater to allergies/vegetarian etc and does not need massive preparation/storage /refrigeration and has long shelf life.

The answer is not bloody chia seeds.

The answer is to not offer the jam sandwiches and only offer the savoury options and carrots sticks that they are already offering anyways - problem solved.

Hence why OP is writing emails.

You seem very willing to accept the economic circumstances that necessitate full time child care, but not apply this to the price of food

Non-Newtonian liquid according to Google! How educational.

But the savoury options are no better.

Someone would be emailing to complain about the ham, which is worse.

what is your vegetarian/dairy free option, other than a carrot stick.

hence why this ASC offers a choice.

Isn’t glass also technically one of those

(veers off topic)

Actually I lie, according to google it’s an amorphous solid.

Presumably there will be children for whom jam sandwiches meet their dietary needs (vegan/allergies) and their parents are happy with that choice.

Why does the OP get to overrule that?

The queen had a jam sandwich every day of her life- I think it was a round jam sandwich called a penny.

But did it have chia seeds?

You know what - you’re right.

We should just collectively give up and instead of trying to find a proper alternative or pushing for budget changes, accept that British children will continue to be more and more obese, will have teeth pulled out at 5yo due to a high sugar diet, become shorter each year compared to other kids in Europe because of crap food.

It’s how we get ahead in life as a society - by burying our heads in the sand and saying “there’s nothing that can be done!”

But @AlenaMaccwhat is to be done. What is your cheap, healthy, dairy free, vegan/vegetarian solution?

or is that not your responsibility?

it’s like delivering Brexit.

That’s definitely the takeaway (pun intended) here.

Oh and if you try to provide healthy, home cooked food for your children you are setting them up for a life of mental health challenges.

All this drama over a jam sandwich. Jeez. 🫠🫠🫠

The good news is that for those parents who think the jam sandwiches are going to lead to grossly obese and toothless children, they have the option of sorting alternative ASC or sending them in with home prepared food. So can we all take a deep breath and calm down in that knowledge.

My word, I've seen it all now. £8 per child per session to cover all overheads and you think they will provide a special, very expensive jam rather than the cheapest jam available at ASDA, Aldi, Lidl, Costco or wherever they get their supplies. You are living on another planet.

No @darkat7not at all, homecooked food is the ideal for mental and physical health

but the OP is choosing not to do that. Either by picking her child up, choosing afterschool care that provides this, or sending her child in with her own home prepared food.

Let's be realistic. These are not going to be the kids who are in the ASC because both parents work, but where the mum has got enough leisure time to be emailing repeatedly about jam.

Access to NHS dental care, cut backs of all support services, and increaaing levels of poverty (the parents who can't afford ASC) as well as reduced public spaces like parks and their condition, are where we should be directing concern.

It’s not a jam sandwich. It’s a four times a week, replacing a main meal, jam sandwich. One jam sandwich just wouldn’t be an issue at all.

I could sort out the financial problems of the ASC - I'd pay for access to a webcam in the school office when that email arrives.

Yes it's a jam sandwich 4
times a week. The horror.

Its not supposed to be replacing a main meal, its supposed be a snack. it's just that the OP's child is hungry for their dinner earlier than the OP is available to provide it. That's an OP problem.

All she has to do is provide what she believes to be more suitable food herself and send it in.

It's positive, I think, that we've now reached the point of acknowledging that budget changes would be needed to change the catering. Because fundamentally, food provision in ASC comes out of a very specific set of practical and financial constraints, which we aren't going to solve merely by saying jam bad. Someone would have to pay, and it doesn't appear that parents are both willing and able to do so.

That said, I think budget changes to fund better food options in ASC would be a hard sell, especially as only a minority attend. There might be more scope for improvement of school lunches, which are increasingly appalling.