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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to complain to school..

38 replies

thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 18:51

about their claims that "we are a healthy school"

ds1 has been asking to have school dinners. so i looked on the website and find that at least 3 out of 5 days each week the dessert is some kind of cake, usually with custard.

the vegetarian options for one week consist of:
cheesey veg pie with gravy
plain omelette with new potatoes (Mmmm! inspired)
broccoli cheese
macaroni cheese
veg pie with gravy

I mean... please! a little variety wouldn't go amiss, and what's with the cake?
kids who take packed lunches are banned from having chocolate/nuts etc etc... but school dinners can consist of badly thought out choices followed by cake?

oh, and the icing on the cake (no pun intended), is that they now get stickers if they eat all their lunch. I can't even begin to tell you how angry that makes me

OP posts:
BuzzingNoise · 11/05/2010 18:53

Why do the stickers make you angry, just out of interest?

RustyBear · 11/05/2010 18:54

Complaining to the school may not do much good if their setup is like ours - the menu is set by the company that provides the meals and that company is imposed on the school by the local authority.
If so, you need to complain to the local authority or to the company.

runnybottom · 11/05/2010 18:54

encourages over-eating and/or inability to self regulate vis a vis appetite?

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 18:56

i already wrote to the company. they ignored me

the stickers make me cross because they're rewarding them for eating! what about the ones who just don't want much? what if they don't fancy it that day? they're encouraging them to finish their entire meal even if they don't want it, by giving them a bloody sticker.

how is it in any way healthy to bribe children to eat as much as they can?

OP posts:
123andaway · 11/05/2010 18:57

We have this at our school. The packed lunch children are banned from taking cake, but everyday the school dinner children get given cake - crazy!

ScreaminEagle · 11/05/2010 18:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

FightingDwarf · 11/05/2010 19:00

What's so wrong with cake? Or stickers? I'm a little tired of the idea that kids should survive on nothing but fruit and water.

Sadly, being vegetarian usually means you don't get much variety unless you do it yourself. That menu doesn't sound too bad to me. Presuambly there are 3 or 4 different weeks' menus, so it's not like the same thing week in week out.

So yes, I think YABU!

MsHighwaterforPrimeMinister · 11/05/2010 19:01

Has anyone ever thought of trying to send in a lunch that suits their child even if it breaches the schools packed lunch "rules"?

MsHighwaterforPrimeMinister · 11/05/2010 19:02

Has anyone ever thought of trying to send in a lunch that suits their child even if it breaches the school's packed lunch "rules"?

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 11/05/2010 19:02

What is vegetarian gravy like?

reikizen · 11/05/2010 19:04

What were you expecting? They are catering for a huge variety of appetites, not just the hummous and rice cake eaters of the world. And the truth is that kids like the same bloody food day in day out, usually with cheese on!

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 19:04

nothing wrong with cake at all. in moderation!
i just don't think a school that proclaims itself "healthy" on its bloody letter heads etc etc should be serving it for pudding the majority of the time
I don't think they should live on fruit and water, but I also happen to think that cake or biscuits every day, with custard, is excessive and certainly not healthy

I also have a problem with the yoghurt they serve being low-fat. kids don't need a low-fat diet do they?

I just think it's ill thought-out.
you're right that there is a 4 week cycle, some weeks are better than others for vegetarian fare... but not much. I really don't think it's that difficult to think up different meals though- they're a catering company fgs!

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 19:05

i don't want to risk sending in anything on the "banned" list for fear of them taking it away from ds1 and upsetting him (he's only 5)

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 19:06

reikizen, I guess I was expecting maybe some veggie versions of the meat-based meals?
those include sweet and sour chicken, fruity curry, fajitas, roasts etc etc

nothing like that for the vegetarians despite all beiong fairly easily adapted

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 11/05/2010 19:06

The vegetarian options at DSs school annoy me even though we're not veggie. I simply don't understand why they can't come up with a direct veggie alternative.

MsHighwaterforPrimeMinister · 11/05/2010 19:09

Not directly related to your OP but this thing about "banned" items from packed lunches, outside of a small number of sensible items, makes my blood boil, even though it does not affect me directly. I can understand that when the school displays such appalling double standards, it must be infuriating. I suppose complain,complain,complain is the only option. Having said that, no doubt that's the way to be labelled as "difficult" by some teachers/school staff...

overmydeadbody · 11/05/2010 19:11

thisisyesterday I would be very cross if DS's school started awarding stickers, or if my school did, and I would voice my concerns.

I also agree with you avout the puddings, and the lack of variety. Not much can be done about that though, especially in small schools where it is all brought in and the budgets are soooo tiny

When I sometimes do dinner duty at work I always tell the kids they don't have to eat anything they don't like, and disagree with the dinner ladies who try to make the kids eat more or finish their plates.

overmydeadbody · 11/05/2010 19:13

At DS's school and the schools I have worked out there have always been healthier options than the cake and custard for pudding option, so there is always fruit for kids who don;t want the cake, and actually it seems like an option that kids do pick.

So I tihnk the school can still have 'healthy school' status. Especially as healthy isn't just about diet is it? It's acout physical activity too.

overmydeadbody · 11/05/2010 19:14

Thankfully Ds's school and my school don't ban any items apart form fizzy cans of drink, sweets (not chocolate) and nuts.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 11/05/2010 19:15

actually, i think they may have a bowl of fruit they can have instead of the pudding, i'd forgotten about that.
I wonder how many of them actually have it though,... hmmm

OP posts:
onebadbaby · 11/05/2010 19:15

I am with the stickers at our school too- they even have a picture of burger and chips on them !!!!! My tiny 4 year old gets given the same portion as a large 11 year old- why should she be rewarded for eating it all??? Especially on a daily basis.

bergentulip · 11/05/2010 19:16

I think it's very important to teach children to eat what's put in front of them - manners / politeness / eating the meat, the veg, the pasta, whatever it is, and not just picking at the bits they fancy the look of.

My son gets the stickers too, and I'm all for it. Also for empty lunchboxes. You know what a lot of children are like, they'll eat all the pasta, leave the carrots or salad etc.. (yes, yes, some don't but lots would if given the choice).

The issue of an unhealthy weekly menu is something else, and YANBU on that front. I probably would take issue too if we had the same problem at my DS's school.

BendyBob · 11/05/2010 19:17

I do not think a piece of cake or biscuit everyday is excessive or unhealthy providing it's not all you eat.

So in that respect I'd go along with the theory that their menu doesn't look too bad.

But I would be complaining from the roof tops about banning similar food items from lunch boxes and proclaiming them as unhealthy if included. That is an out and out double standard.

babywalks · 11/05/2010 19:17

why are the kids who take packed lunches banned from bringing in chocolate? nuts i can understand but chocolate? seems a bit much imo

BritFish · 11/05/2010 19:18

"I don't think they should live on fruit and water, but I also happen to think that cake or biscuits every day, with custard, is excessive and certainly not healthy

I also have a problem with the yoghurt they serve being low-fat. kids don't need a low-fat diet do they?"

they dont need a low fat diet=so let them have cake.

having cake or biscuits in small amounts every day doesnt make you fat. exhibit one: my DD [19] exhibit 2: my DS [17]

its what you have with your biscuits or cake that makes the difference.

if you're that bothered about veggie cooking options, become jamie oliver. dont complain about the school, we've ONLY JUST in the past 10 years got healthy eating in schools, its not their bloody fault, they are tied by budget and red tape a lot of the time.

nothing wrong with stickers? if they are serving the correct portion sizes then it encourages the child to finish their main meal so often no room for pudding. and also encourages a child not to eat a tiny bit and then gorge on food at home later that day closer to bedtime.