My ravenous child is only allowed fruit at snack time. I am furious.

[Avocadoes]

My 4 year old DD started Reception class last week. She seems very happy but also very hungry. She is not a great breakfast eater, no matter how hard I try, so at home she used to get a mid morning plate of toast to boost her energy. At school her mid morning snack must be fruit and nothing else. Is that normal?

On her first day I sent her in with sliced apple and raisens. She ate them all, ate all her lunch, but still came home at 3.30pm starving. She then consumed two slices of toast and ate three large plates of spag bol at dinner time.

The next day I put dry cereal (Raisen Wheats) in her snack box to give her some carbs. She came home and told me the teacher had told her she wasn't allowed to eat it. She was very embarrassed about this.

When I dropped her off on the third day I asked the teacher what I could give her to fill her up mid morning. The teacher said it had to be fresh fruit or veg.

AIBU to think a growing child should be allowed a proper energy boost mid morning? I am not suggesting chocolate or crisps, but a health bar, or crackers, or dry cereal should surely be allowed.

Violet - I am actually not furious with the school now I know it's a national policy. I still question the inflexibility of the policy. I personally prefer to eat little and often which is healthy but is not accomodated by the policy. However, at least I now know it's not just DD's school being draconian. I will direct my anger at Mr Gove instead, that feels much more natural .

fruit as a snack is bad for children dentally

I love views like Earwigca's! You must have easily led DCs if they allow this to happen. I find that most DCs are lively, opinionated and original and don't have chips on their shoulders!

Well, here's a link to the government website about being a healthy school. Criteria are on the RHS in the box.
audit.healthyschools.gov.uk/Themes/Themes.aspx?theme=2
Wrap-around care, another PITA idea.

Bananas are the best thing. WhenI was at school we NEVER had food in the morning, we had more exercise and less processed food.

shame your school is so strict.

Our school allows go-ahead bars and other healthy bars as well.

Or I give them a yoghurt pouch and dried fruit.

not much you can do, maybe write a letter to the governors?

I think fruit is idealised at the moment, in this obesity-epidemic-Britain, and carbs are unfairly demonised....not much you can do, but make sure she has a good breakfast!

Then, earwigca, you are either a wind up merchant or ignorant. Not sure which.

Give them a decent protein breakfast, like eggs, or something slow release like porridge.

Alouiseg said what I ment: protein for longterm hungerpang prevention.

And I really do not understand the recent popularity of rice cakes and the like: no nutritional value, taste of cardboard and stick to the roof of my mouth, yeuch! I suspect it is about them being 'fat free', my pet hate phrase, as that may be true, but is meaningless and really not something that any child should concern themselves about.

And breathe...

How very dare schools teach children such utterly fucked up messages about food.

If they were actually remotely interested in healthy eating they wouldn't be saying "you must eat a sugary snack mid-morning".

Different people have different appetites. If a child prefers a small breakfast and some complex carbs at break time they should have them.

A system that can't accommodate that is about enforcing rules and not about teaching anything. Never mind "healthy eating".

It explains a lot that there are people in England who are happy that school exists to inculcate conformity.

However did we manage when I was at school with nothing!! I don't think anyone even thought about it. Even a reception DC can manage 4 hours without food.

Give her a very large banana.

Another one with easily led DCs spidookly. I don't have those views, I don't feel that my children had to conform. They didn't bother with any snacks at break at primary school, they didn't want to waste valuable playing time. I didn't get upset on simple little rules that are unimportant. Have a bigger breakfast!

Send veg instead. I sometimes send dd with a bag of roasted veg from previous nights dinner, roast potatoes are filling

Lamorna - it's not only four hours without food if your child struggles to eat breakfast. Several of us have pointed out that not everyone can adjust to a big breakfast. I never have and my daughter looks to be the same. The problem with policies like this one is they don't allow any flexibility to accomodate individual variations.

It is rather a pointless thread, the school are not going to change so you need to adjust the diet to accommodate it and worry about things that matter.

At my school we have morning tea at 10am. All children sit and eat something, it can be a sandwich/crisps/cake/fruit - whatever they like but no sweets are allowed. Sadly no one has ever brought scones with cream and jam. They can also buy a snack pack from the office with dried fruit, crackers, a fruit juice etc if they wish.

Everyone is expected to eat something. When it is hot and dry we all go and sit under a huge oak tree, it is lovely.

'You must have easily led DCs if they allow this to happen.'

Lovely as that would be, I don't.

That's very funny seeker - if somebody doesn't agree with you then they are lying or ignorant.

Send a large banana then, Avocadoes (or an avocado)

Why am I the only person surprised that a)they get a mid morning snack and b)they have to take it in themselves? At our school, the LEA fruit&milk is an afternoon snack, and it was always this way when I was at school (in a totally different part of the country).

I think you just need to break the cycle with your child's eating habits; if she is eating 3 bowels of pasta for tea, then of course she wont be very hungry when she wakes up the next morning.And so it continues.
My kids arent always keen on breakfast, but they go in phases. ds2 had pasta for breakfast for a while; didnt hurt him.

And all children say they're starving when they come out at 3.30. I remember being hungry, even though we had lunch then afternoon snacks. At secondary school we had tuck at about 2pm, but we all still wanted a buttie as soon as we got home!

Why are you worrying then earwicga? I just trust my children and don't agree with your statement.

A rule isn't a rule if it is flexible. If your dd is allowed something other than fruit for her snack, why can't the other children? Most kids would prefer to have a sweet cereal bar rather than fruit. Where will it all end?

bowls of pasta, sorry. What a superb typo!

I love school uniforms, my life would have been a nightmare as a child if there was no uniform because my mother had set views on clothes.