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Original poster

Is checking contents of childrens bottles and confiscating them if not water only illegal?

302 replies

devonvalley · 14/09/2010 23:18

New head has instructed staff to do above!!
They get returned 2 hrs later a t lunch, so my son who is working towards water only,has a drink at 8am then not til 1pm ! the idea behind preventing dehydration is to increase a childs fluid intake to enhance concentration levels in school and a dash of good squash or flavoured water which a lot of parents would /are using will be confiscated !!(hs sugar free additive free, natural flavouring dash of squash to take rawness off for time being) all rest of family drink water, but son has food issues,and refuses to drink water on its own.we keep trying,others did convert a t there own pace!(children should be treated as individuals at school are they not??) If it was coke i could understand!
We have to give written consent to many things in school time, this needs our permission does it not?checking, confiscating. We fought two wars in this country to deny dictorial leadership??

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PixieOnaLeaf · 15/09/2010 21:07

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Feenie · 15/09/2010 21:09

Y2 SATs are not abolished, bullethead. The assessment in Y2 is teacher assessment, but it still has to be backed up by a test.

25% of primary schools boycotted Y6 SATs this year. I doubt this will have any effect now. Sad

As for water bottles, seriously, get a grip. In the choosing your battles stakes, this shouldn't even be close.

Ooh, and bullethead said 'trendy'. Bingo!

tokyonambu · 15/09/2010 21:09

"Several private school heads, individually, risked their reputations by boycotting SATS and league tables a few years ago"

Private schools never took SATs, nor were they ever part of the league tables. No private head could have boycotted SATs, as not only were they not obliged to do them, they would not have been able to even had they wanted to. I think you're slightly mis-remembering.

blackisthisyearspink · 15/09/2010 21:10

Private schools can do SATS and be part of the league tables if they want to. In my area one does, one doesn't. DD and ds go to the one that doesn't.

silverfrog · 15/09/2010 21:11
Smile

no, I am arguing that the OP has mentioned food issues more than once.

and that, just because he will, after a lot of work, take a few sips form a water fountain when encouraged to do so, does not mean he will be fine to drink water all day.

and that, possibly, making an issue out of what he drinks (as the school are doing) will lead to a bigger impact on other areas of his life. dd1 stopped eating at school because it was suggested she drink water with ehr lunch.

stopped. completely. it took nearly a year for her to trust that nothing as obviously horrendous (to her) as a glass of water being set out for her wuodl happen again.

sometimes, these things can get really big, really quickly.

and, tbh, it just isn't worth going there.

mrz · 15/09/2010 21:13

OK bullethead head makes a stand about water bottles (or some other initiative) receives a notice to improve (or worse) from Ofsted will you as a parent choose to send your child to a "failing" school?

montblanche · 15/09/2010 21:32

FACT: Sugary drinks attract insects. Water doesn't.

Most (if not all) children in the UK are well-'hydrated'. We do not live in Dafur where the situation may be a little different.

As for 'hydrated children perform better' - what is a 'hydrated child?! Smile Nearly every child in the UK has a drink around 8am, and then again at noon. I'm sure they are all well-'hydrated' even if they don't have a drink in the classroom during the morning.

I don't get this water-bottles-in-the-classroom-boost-concentration nonsense - based on pop psychology with no firm empirical evidence. Water bottles in the classroom just cause more trips to the toilet IMO.

tokyonambu · 15/09/2010 21:40

I think a school which banned drinks in the classroom, end of, would be doing everyone a favour. And it would be much, much easier to implement. And it wouldn't breach any "healthy school" initiative.

Feenie · 15/09/2010 21:43

Are you kidding? MNers would go nuts!

StarExpat · 15/09/2010 21:47

But wouldn't you get a bit squirmy and wouldn't you want some water after a few hours in a classroom .... Particularly on a hot day? I personally wouldn't make it. Maybe I drink too much water

tokyonambu · 15/09/2010 21:50

"But wouldn't you get a bit squirmy and wouldn't you want some water after a few hours in a classroom .... Particularly on a hot day? I personally wouldn't make it. Maybe I drink too much water"

Think of your own school days. Was dehydration a major problem? What access did you have to water outside lunch breaks?

MIssAnneThrope · 15/09/2010 21:52

If it's sugar-free, how can it be additive-free?

montblanche · 15/09/2010 22:10

Nearly all schools also have fountains for use at break time ... so they would have to go for at least 2 hours at a time without water. What hardship.

PixieOnaLeaf · 15/09/2010 22:11

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bullethead · 15/09/2010 22:11

tokyonambu I salute you.

mrz - The fact that schools are given notice to improve and labelled as failing on such flimsy grounds that are not even based on the school's educational performance would be a scandal and should be challenged. Parents aren't stupid and go not only by such labels, but by the long-term reputation of the school locally, the feel of the school itself and the head and the teachers they meet. If what you say is true then I would always ask a head teacher why they have been given notice to improve. If they said it's because they refused to make their staff waste time sniffing water bottles then it would instantly endear me!

daisy243 · 15/09/2010 22:16

Nanny State! I am capable of deciding what my children can drink and it would piss me off if my kids school told me what the kids could/n't have.
My dd can go the whole day forgetting to drink at school....only having water on offer would not help that!

chipshopchips · 15/09/2010 22:28

Agree with those saying water bottles could be abolished. When I first started teaching, and in my own school days we didn't have these and I don't recall being dehydrated or even drinking being an issue.

There is no reason for children to have water bottles on the tables, they only serve as a distraction, a clutter and a waste of space.

Having them by the sink is bearable, but gives children the excuse to disappear at any moment they feel they don't fancy doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Why can't schools allow children to drink water at play times? It is a recent phenomenon to see people with a bottle of evian permanently attached to their lips. It really is silly.

chipshopchips · 15/09/2010 22:31

Where were the food issues kids in the 70S???

silverfrog · 15/09/2010 22:36

well, chipshopchips, if you are referring to children such as my dd1, then she would have been shut away in an institution.

I rather like this strange new world we now live in where she is allowed a nice shot at life Hmm

spiritmum · 15/09/2010 22:44

Exactly, silverfrog. 'Problem' kids were just shoved out of sight somewhere. Insitutions, 'special schools'...

The dc's school has no water fountains anywhere. They ar eallowed to drink from their water bottles on the way out to play and on the way back. They are not allowed access to them during teaching time unless during a heatwave.

My dc get constipated because of dehydration. The staff haven't got a clue if they have been drinking or not, but I have, because every morning I go in and change the water in ds's bottle (to save the TA a job) and it is still full from the day before. And they haven't refilled it, because I ask.

So he gets one drink (at lunchtime) from 8 am to 3.30 when we get home.

tokyonambu · 15/09/2010 22:57

"Exactly, silverfrog. 'Problem' kids were just shoved out of sight somewhere. Insitutions, 'special schools'..."

And now, fortunately, thanks to the intervention of bottles of water, inclusion is working well.

bullethead · 15/09/2010 23:03

The water fountain thing really annoys me. If a school doesn't have access to water during break time inside or enough water fountains that are well-maintained outside then they are not practicing what they preach. Any child that does not have a bottle and is thirsty at break-time is going to lose out, with nothing but a 'you should've brought your bottle' as comfort from the teacher. This shows how a well-meaning (though somewhat slightly misguided) policy can become not only a stick to beat children and parents with, but something which schools see merely as a hoop to jump through.

As a result ome schools may pay lip-service to the policy but in reality are forgetting their real duty of care towards the children.

spiritmum · 15/09/2010 23:10

Bullethead, our dc aren't allowed to take their water bottles with them when they go out to play at all unless it is very hot. Quick swig on the way out and on the way in. That's it. How many pupils will miss out on playtime in order to have a drink, esp, the younger ones?

No water fountains at all in the school and no cups provided.

montblanche · 15/09/2010 23:13

Why would you want to be running round at playtime carrying a water bottle?
What's the problem with a quick swig before and after?

spiritmum · 15/09/2010 23:20

Because they don't stop to swig and go straight outside. Playtime is too important to stop and drink. And then when they come in they get told to hurry back to their places so don't get time then either (I know b/c I used to go in and read with the kids). No water fountains. Dehydrated, constipated kids, in spite of my efforts with high fibre food.