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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed at this school lesson

25 replies

howmuchdidyousay · 08/11/2009 14:21

dd2 reception class are making and designing a fruit salad using different coloured fruit.They cut up lots of fruits and gave the children a taste of them all and then the children choose what they wanted in their own salad.DD has come home with a list saying i have to provide a portion each of fresh strawberries , blueberries,mango,pineapple,Kiwis and grapes .It has set me back £9.50 and I really object to buying fruit from Argentina , costa Rica ,Brazil,New zealand and Ecuador.
I never let my DC normally have stuff which has travelled so far .Shouldn't the school be encouraging kids to eat local, seasonal stuff ?

OP posts:
Picante · 08/11/2009 14:22

YANBU

BertieBotts · 08/11/2009 14:24

that's awful - they should have asked them to find pictures of different coloured fruit or something. £9.50 is a lot of money.

QandA · 08/11/2009 14:25

YANBU, about the cost, but I feel in the interest of a new experience and as a one off then the seasonal local produce isn't as important. They should have allocated 1 fruit per person and just bought enough for a small group.

They may talk about where the fruit has come from as part of the lesson and used it as a teaching point.

Earlybird · 08/11/2009 14:25

Imo, the issue is not about 'seasonal and locally sourced', but about expecting parents to incur the expense, which could be difficult for some. Even if it isn't a budget issue for parents, that is alot of money to 'lay out' unexpectedly for a school lesson.

purepurple · 08/11/2009 14:26

YANBU
Complain to the school.

bruffin · 08/11/2009 14:37

Agree with earlybird the problem isn't about locally sourced food but it is ridiculous of the school expecting each parent to spend so much on a lesson.
Are you sure they don't want you to provide a portion of one of the fruits, that would make so much more sense.

TeamAlesha · 08/11/2009 14:39

YANBU

If everyone does this they will have tons of wasted food - very

Goblinchild · 08/11/2009 14:56

Say no and point out that they should be funding it from their science/PSHCE budget.

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 08/11/2009 14:56

They do the fruit salad thing in our school - all mine have done it but none has ever had to bring in more than one portion of fruit. Are you sure that they really want you to bring in ALL of them and not just choose one from the list? I would speak to the teacher if so.

mears · 08/11/2009 14:58

Are you sure it wasn't just one portion of one of the fruits you were to provide?

WhereYouLeftIt · 08/11/2009 15:03

YANBU. I would certainly raise this with the school, they may simply have not thought it through properly.

Squishabelle · 08/11/2009 15:15

There must be some misunderstanding - the school cant be meaning each child has to bring in all this fruit. Dosent help op though - she has already bought it.

MadameDefarge · 08/11/2009 15:24

when we did this in class, we took them to a local market with a shopping list. Parents contributed £1 to the total cost, and the children chose the fruit. I would be astonished if they were actually asking you to provide all the fruit for the class.

LynetteScavo · 08/11/2009 15:29

Both DC's have done fruit salads - but I think they did it in Y1, and neither time were parents asked to provide fruit.

That sounds like one massive fruit salad you DD will be making.

I would bring up the local produce point with the school...it's likely it hasn't even entered their minds, and they may reconsider how they aproach the project next year.

Heated · 08/11/2009 15:30

Can't imagine for a moment that all x30 parents will be doing this. Is it possible the request for fruit could be interpreted more than one way - i.e. pick one off the list? Otherwise, it's an ill-conceived idea by a teacher thinking it was a great creative h/w!

gingernutlover · 08/11/2009 15:36

YANBU

we are taking our reception class next week to the nearby town on the minibus to look at shops selling food, and the market too.

We have asked for £1 a child towards petrol and buying a few ingredients (prob fruit salad) I didnt think this was unreasonable, and any family who cant afford the £1 will be paid for by the school and wont be stopped from coming.

Also when we make soup or do veggie printing we aks for small donations from each family and would never be so specific as to ask for such expensive fruits.

To the person who suggested it all be paid for out of school budget, well yes in an ideal world it would but we were told in sept that we had £30 per class to spend on consumables til easter, if we didnt ask for small contributions we wouldnt do these things simply because the children then wouldnt have a pencil to write with. It's sad but true.

gingernutlover · 08/11/2009 15:37

oh and i agree with the fact you were probably meant to supply one ingredient but even so, they arent exactly cheap seasonal produce items are they!

meltedchocolate · 08/11/2009 15:54

That is crazy. I would ask for a refund (joke)

Original poster
howmuchdidyousay · 08/11/2009 17:57

There are only 9 reception children.They have been told to bring a large plastic container to bring the fruit salad home in.
I am a bit surprised that people say food miles are not an important issue.For me and some of the other parents it certainly is.I always tell my kids thay can't have imported out of season fruit and explain why.

OP posts:
hocuspontas · 08/11/2009 18:04

But why didn't you go in BEFORE you bought the stuff? It either hasn't been thought through properly or they think the parents are loaded. Is this a state school?

I agree though that the airmiles thing is not really relevant to homework is it? It's just a one-off. Why would they be making a salad of all the normal fruit they eat every day? This is a opportunity to try new things!

islandofsodor · 08/11/2009 18:08

YABU

Dd did this and made up her won recipie but the fruit she actually took in was that which we already had in the veg box.

The children should be encouraged to let their imaginations run free with regard to actually devising the recipie but it doesn't matter what fruit you send in, they still get the experience of making agd eating something.

tinkerbellesmuse · 08/11/2009 18:09

To expect parents to pay that amount is unreasonable but I think as a one off experience you needn't get your knickers in a twist over airmiles.

Duritzfan · 08/11/2009 18:24

Mine have done this too - we jus had to provide 1.50 towards the total cost .. If Id had to pay 9.50 Id have complained .. So many families cannot afford to do that !

madamearcati · 09/11/2009 10:05

But most people just moan to one another and don't like to complain to the school especially in cases like the OPs where it seems to be a small school

notimetotidy · 09/11/2009 10:31

9 children x £9.50 = £85.50 for a fruit salad

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