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?

😂 over a bit of jam !

They eat a chicken for 6 days so it does make sense.

Did you open the thread so we could all tell you jam sandwiches were the work of the devil?

Be careful what your rigid rules about food at home do to your child. The children I knew who grew up in these kinds of strict regimes, all went mad on sugar/junk food as soon as they could choose for themselves, and struggle with obesity as adults.

Moderation in all things. Excessive control usually makes those subject to it desire to rebel.

I don't think jam is an issue either, I made two jars the other week, yes it's equal quantities of sugar and fruit (plums from my trees), but there is nothing else added, and it cannot be more than a teaspoon a day.

I would rather eat my jam than a slice of processed ham. I would love to know what the OP serves for every other meal, if it's wonderful home cooked, healthy food, than a teaspoon of jam won't kill her.

If she was eating jam sandwiches at every meal then that would be a cause for concern. As it is she gets 4 jam sandwiches a week as part of an overall balanced diet.

Nothing to see here ........

Bit surprised so many are so fine with the idea of kids filling up on jam sandwiches every day after school.

Jam is pretty much pure sugar its akin to the school spreading the sandwiches with chocolate spread and im pretty sure parents wouldnt appreciate their kids shovelling down chocolate spread sandwiches daily then not eating the balanced tea with vegetables, that parents have made them.

It wouldnt be allowed in our state school OP and i dont think you are being unreasonable. If parents repeatedly put jam sandwiches in lunchboxes theyd be in trouble, but its ok when school needs an easy option?!

You don't get to "close the thread".

If it matters that much to you, pick a different school or send her with her own food. A jam sandwich after school is not the crisis you're making it out to be.

I don't understand the replies you are getting. Perhaps people don't experience healthy snacks in their school. It makes absolutely no sense for a school to provide a snack that a parent would not be allowed to bring in.

Also the concept of healthy food in School is to ensure children get a healthy meal somewhere. Not every child gets a meal at home. Young people's health is changing fast due to the huge range of "non-food" items supermarkets sell and the pester power of fast food & financial pressures. It might sound overly virtuous but it is really important.

she’s full from all the jam!

Goodness, how much jam are they cramming into the sandwich?

I can assure you, it'll be no more than a teaspoon.

If that is filling her up, then she must have the appetite of a butterfly

I think this is what’s behind the sneery type comments.

Of course, if the OP did and gave up work to be a SAHM (because WFH with a school age child is also deemed totally unacceptable on here) then she’d get hate as well 🤷‍♀️

Its the double standard that's the issue - parents are banned from using these easy options in their kids packed lunches on health grounds, but its ok for school to enjoy the convenience?

For a bit of balance, the child nutritionist and author of a range of books that many use for weaning etc, Charlotte Stirling Reed, has also recently posted about this, in the context of chocolate spread. I don’t think questioning the offer is vastly unreasonable when the school is quite clear I wouldn’t be allowed to provide the EXACT SAME THING if it came from
home.

I wouldn't like my dd being given processed white bread 4 times a week regardless of what was in it. So so unhealthy, why can't they provide real food?

I’m going to close the thread.

OP is now desperately looking for the the " @JBeanGarden has turned off comments" button 😂

I love a jam sandwich. Or a lemon curd one ☺️

She is full up from the bread!

At that point in the day children are very hungry and need a snack of some kind.

You could tell the school she is not to have the jam sandwiches if you feel that strongly, but it would be worth researching what else she might get and deciding if you object to that too.

ASC and the food there is often provided by external suppliers.

You've given me a craving for lemon curd now

For me 🤣. You may all carry on as you wish.

Now I would avoid jam sandwiches for lunch but quite happily supply them at snack time- they are a better snack than biscuits and cheaper than ham and cheese

perhaps plain bread and butter would make it more lily they eat the carrots for sweetness hit

Healthy eating at lunch and a jam sandwich once a week is about balance imo and probably just as "unhealthy " as processed ham sandwich, food should be balanced and enjoyed a bit of jam on some bread isn't the same as filling lunch boxes with processed crap.

Mother of a fussy eater with sensory issues, it’s more of a worry they will go hungry than consume a thin layer of fruit jam after school. Sorry for the low bar!

The point is if you provides jam sandwiches for lunch and then jam sandwiches were offered as a snack, that wouldn’t be a balanced diet. As it is, your child is having a balanced nutritional diet for all her meals therefore a jam sandwich at wrap is not going to tip her overall diet into being unbalanced.
This is literally a first world problem.

Bonkers! Dual national here and can assure you that in the country I grew up in, jam sandwiches were, and are, prolific. It has nothing to do with being British. Your prejudice is showing and its gross.

This is the norm at after school clubs. They run on a small margin and need quick easy food to prepare.
After school clubs close at the drop of a hat. Be glad you've got one and stop making a fuss about something so trivial.