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Original poster

Clean plate award

93 replies

AlwaysNeverOnTime · 19/11/2016 14:26

DD has school lunches on Fridays only. Yesterday she came home with a sticker that said 'clean plate award'. I asked her what it was and she said you get the sticker if you eat everything on your plate. I then asked her if you got one if you eat most of it, but she says no. Only if you eat everything, which us why she's never had one before.

This really annoyed me as my DD was really pleased she had got the sticker and said she's going to try and clean her plate next week too. Now I do think kids should be encouraged to try new foods ect but I don't think children should be trying to eat more just to clean their plate.

DH thinks I'm completely over reacting but I've always had issues with food and am trying to teach my DCs to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

Should I speak to the school about this or just leave it? Is this a thing they do in all schools?

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TheAntiBoop · 19/11/2016 15:58

At dd's school you only get it for main - not dessert!!

It's hard to manage to little ones who will eat enough to stop being hungry so they can play but they are not full. What else could the school do to encourage them to eat until full?

paxillin · 19/11/2016 16:03

Ours do them too for infants. I think they are a terrible idea, eating to get a reward is just as dreadful as using food as a reward.

BeanAnTi · 19/11/2016 16:03

This reply has been deleted

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paxillin · 19/11/2016 16:23

About 1% of reception kids are underweight, this rises to 1.5% in year 6. More than 20% are overweight, rising to a third in year 6.

We really shouldn't celebrate clean plates irrespective of hunger.

Original poster
AlwaysNeverOnTime · 19/11/2016 17:42

DDs school definitely don't give out stickers for pack lunches. DD had packed lunch Monday to Thursday and has to bring her rubbish home so I know she finishes all her food about 50% of the time and has never come home with a sticker.

I know it only effects my DD once a week, but I still don't think it's right.

OP posts:
HarveySchlumpfenburger · 20/11/2016 11:37

No-one is forced to eat everything. They are just given a sticker (quietly, not with a big fuss) if they do.

Well either the sticker isn't motivating, in which case the system is pointless. Or it is motivating and children who have eaten until they are full will continue eating just to get it, setting up bad eating habits.

user789653241 · 20/11/2016 14:04

I agree with Rafa. Stomach can expand and get bigger if you keep eating more than you need. Long term, child may become obese because of that.

Also, I just found out they actually do this at my ds' school too. And children with packed lunches are excluded. He is not bothered, so it's fine. But this is yet another award that can exclude children for something they can't control, like attendance awards. Hmm

mrz · 20/11/2016 14:36

School dinners are meant to be carefully balanced

Pud2 · 20/11/2016 16:17

I'm with you husband OP...

Original poster
AlwaysNeverOnTime · 20/11/2016 16:24

It's whole other thread, but I definitely do not agree that school lunches are balanced. Especially when they get a pudding every day.

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Original poster
AlwaysNeverOnTime · 20/11/2016 16:26

Oh and the bread. Loads of my friends kids will often just eat bread of they don't like the lunch that day. One friend even laughed about the fact her daughter just seemed to eat bread for lunch every day. I wouldn't be happy with this. But again, that's another thread.

OP posts:
mrz · 20/11/2016 16:51

I can't comment on other schools but I know our pupils get half a slice of bread and pudding must be low fat and sugar free as per statutory requirements

QuackDuckQuack · 20/11/2016 16:53

For my DD the stickers are the difference between her eating the veg and not, so I'm all for them.

AllTheShoes · 20/11/2016 17:37

I hate this, our school does it too.

My dd1 had to learn how to slip out while the dinner ladies weren't looking as otherwise they would literally spoon feed her the food she didn't want. I've never spoon fed her, and I want her to be able to choose what goes in her mouth, without coaxing / persuasion etc. It's her look out if she's hungry in the afternoon.

I understand that other parents worry that their children don't eat enough, but I don't want that to be imposed on my children, who I trust to eat if they're hungry and stop if they're not. I'm also happy for them to choose to be hungry rather than eat something they find disgusting.

jamdonut · 20/11/2016 20:26

Seriously...you worry about them having a pudding every day????
You do know that there are very strict rules about sugar in school puddings. There is no taste to them, as they have next to no sugar ! Or in the "custard".
At our school, though, yogurts or a cup full of mixed fruits is very popular as pudding.Probably because it tastes of something.

I think some children just need the encouragement to eat...infant dinners are really not huge, and some are so fussy...all they'll eat is a few peas, or sweet corn or similar sometime. It's a long day with not much to eat, otherwise. We get moaned at if they don't eat their food and moaned at if 'forced' to eat.

Original poster
AlwaysNeverOnTime · 21/11/2016 14:58

Yes I do worry about them having a pudding every day. What exactly is in these puddings then? Basically just unnecessary carbs to fill them up.

And as for yogurts, unless they are full fat plain yogurt, they will basically just be full of rubbish.

OP posts:
smellyboot · 21/11/2016 15:06

I totally get the concern and agree that it doesn't sit roughy with me to reward eating in any format generally. However my DC would regularly say she wasn't hungry to get out of eating school lunch so she could go out to play instead. She has no interest in food. It would have maybe worked for her. My DC2 will not eat any veg what so ever so a sticker if they did would be worth a try.... Our school meals are great nutrition wise but the portions are not big enough to cause obesity. (The larger children I know of are all on packed lunches!!!!)

Clutterbugsmum · 21/11/2016 16:05

I think you need to get your own food issue sorted before you pass them on to your children.

Your child would have had a piece of pizza about the size of a small coaster, a few chips (about 10) and a dessert spoon of beans. Then pudding may be a piece of cake 1 1/2 inch cube.

jamdonut · 21/11/2016 18:04

Ok I'm not a nutritionist, but I really don't see what is wrong with a little bit of (almost) sugar free cake-type pudding with a spoonful of custard on the top. And why shouldn't they feel full up...it's feeling hungry that stops them from working well. It's not like they're force fed on Death by Chocolate desserts!
Seriously, school dinners are not the cause of childhood obesity. (Well, not these days).

mrz · 21/11/2016 18:53

"few chips (about 10)". That many. Our Y2 teacher refers to it as "five chip Friday" (and that's an adult portion!)

Pud2 · 21/11/2016 20:48

'Full fat plain yoghurt'

How dull! Honestly, they're children. It's ok for them to eat a range of food and, shock horror, some sugar!

user1475317873 · 21/11/2016 22:03

I don''t like the idea of the clean plate award; at my daugther's school they are required to eat at least half; portions are very small and she is always starving when she finish school. I do not think they should be forced to eat just to get the award; however my husband was raised like that by his dad who was quite strict and he is ok; apart from having a sweet tooth.

MilkRunningOutAgain · 23/11/2016 09:06

This is a bit off topic but may give teachers another perspective. My DD has no appetite control, which is I'm told unusual. If it's a food she likes she will eat til she can eat no more. I dread to think what that sticker policy would have done to her weight. As it was I had trouble getting the lunch staff not to give her seconds and thirds, at her school they love to get a child who finishes her plate daily and looks for more!

Theimpossiblegirl · 23/11/2016 09:17

It won't be the teachers awarding these sticker, they will (if they are lucky) be eating their own lunch in peace (or marking/getting ready for the afternoon). If you are concerned, mention it to the school, but it is a small thing and I think you are over-reacting. I imagine the portion sizes are small and it is to discourage waste and to get children to eat their lunch rather than go outside to play and then be hungry in the afternoon.

If it bothers you that much, send a packed lunch, but I would be thinking carefully about not passing my own food issues onto my daughter, it is all too easily done.

WellErrr · 23/11/2016 09:29

We use this in my school, I am now considering challenging what we do

Please do.

If they do this shite at my children's school, I will certainly be complaining.

There are enough fat children about these days without rewarding them for eating. Food is something they need to learn about, and one of the most important things is recognising when they're full and then stopping eating.

Rewarding children for clearing their plates goes against this. It doesn't matter about the portion size - the fact that they're rewarded for finishing everything is the problem.