Are thye allowed to not let my son eat some of his packed lunch?

[jellyjelly]

My son was told today at lunch that he was unable to eat his chocolate custard and two jaffa cakes. Its the first time but i think its a bit wrong.

Advice please and not about giving him things.

I think its a waste of time trying to convince someone who sends coke and a packet of crisps to send raw carrot and hummus. I think the school would have better luck trying to get them to switch the coke to juice and the crisps to a cheese sandwich and a digestive. People switch off when you attempt to convince them to do something that is totally alien but might be prepared to change to a halfway point.

Well as far as a heathy lunchbox is concerned I am amazed, excited and baffled by mrz's link to DM:

Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls praised a Hertfordshire school which has designed lunchbox menu ideas for parents.

These include falafel and houmous pitta bread with a tomato and avocado salad, followed by fruit yoghurt.

Falafel? I live in a part of North London where falafel is pretty freely available but don't consider it a part of my day-to-day diet. Ditto Pitta and hummus. Do people in manchester and birmingham have large supplies of falafel at their disposal? How about Wales and Scotland?

Wouldn't a salad involving avacado be a bit brown by lunchtime, and therefore totally unattractive to the average child?

I think they were actually describing what they had had for lunch...!

There are not many falafels in the supermarkets of Somerset. I would have to go 40 miles up to Bristol for those.
And the local Tesco don't often stock avocado.
When DS1 was in year 6 they were beginning to introduce these initiatives and crisps were banned from the school tuck shop. DS1 spent his pocket money on multipacks of crisps and sold them to his friends.

They are quite easy to make dinasaw! I suspect Sainsbury in Taunton might. Assuming your DS will eat them. I suspect that much as I love them my DCs would rather eat poo

Houmous and pitta are partof our everyday food.

lol dinasaw at your ds selling his crisps! Hes got his head screwed on! The little entrepeneur!

falafel freely available here (middle of nowhere) and very easy to make. I think pitta are quite messy for tinies though. I wouldn't 'open' an avocado to make lunch for one child and I imagine it would be pretty rank by lunchtime. Hummous and pitta bread are part of the everyday diet for millions but are still an alien concept for millions too. I think that for lots of people the shift from monster munch to hummous is too big a jump to be attempted and aiming for a halfway point would be more successful.

Sorry, but I've just sprayed coffee all over the PC at the idea of huge swathes of falafel free countryside. Eerm, there are supermarkets outside the M25

hang on MRZ on page5 just quoted something interesting which seems to have been looked over........"IN CONSULTATION WITH PARENTS".....
if we dont feel consulted and disagree with the mannor in which changes are occuring we should be able to freely air our views and stand our ground.a little bit of choc or a jam sandwich wont hurt if over all diet is good.
in repect of the children who's parents are giving them crap, i dont think its the schools place to judge. educate and support only. if the child is grossly obesse and health is failing because of it, its a medical matter not educational and they can raise it with the propper authorities.know this sounds very extream, but i think most caring parents have got the message that obesity in kids is on increase and were trying to do our best for our little ones, so if we think they would enjoy or benefit from a little treat we should be able to give it to them!!!! its as though the teachers can decide when our children deserve choc or sweets but not us, thats crazy.[re previous message when teacher asked me for sweets ds could eat].every thing in moderation i say!!!

as for falafel....bought my first box of the other day [and not cos of it being mentioned here, running out of good things for my super allergic ds to try]not tried it yet. really cant imagine ds's will be too impressedwould appreciate serving suggestions from those who eat it.

riven on Thu 11-Sep-08 18:58:59
"Are schools in total control of your child then? Surely thats a human rights thing?"

So why is it a human right to be able to eat Jaffa cakes but not to be allowed to wear what you like for school? Going into schools in denims and a sweater at least wouldn't be unhealthy. In fact, a lot healthier than those flimsy uniforms that are certainly not designed for British winter weather.

You never seem to see parents on here complaining that their parenting is undermined by not being allowed to put their children in whatever clothes they like. Why not?

Personally, I have no problem with saving the treats for after school-makes them all the more appreciated. It's not as if the school were trying to dictate what I fed them at home- and that's still where they spend most of their time.

There is nothing unhealthy about banana custard.

If it was all there was in the lunchbox, it would be unhealthy. As part of a balanced diet, that's what it provides - balance.

Children need high fat foods. And all those low fat weightwatcher type shite - bleurgh.

I would complain if the school didn't allow my ds to wear clothes that kept him warm.

I would complain if the school didn't allow my ds to eat enough food to keep him going until hometime.

Small children will struggle to get enough energy in a limited time if they have to have the same diet as someone on weightwatchers.

queenbea I completely agree on the halfway point theory that you mentioned, this IMO, is why Jamie Oliver aggravated so many people. If you are trying to change the diet of people who feed their children crisps and coke for dinner, maybe instructing them to eat puy lentil casserole with artichoke hearts and kohl rabi (sp) is not the best idea. How about jacket potatoes and lasagna? salad, cheeses, roast dinners and home made puddings?

This low fat diet thing is just bullshit and now what children need...

When dd1 started in reception, with her limited food repertoire, I sent her in with a peanut butter sandwich. TA told her to tell her mummy she musn't, and that's put her off for life.

Shame really, because she's a fussy eater and her only other source of protein comes from more worrying crap.

peanut butter is usually banned because peanut allergies are so common these days, though, not because they are 'unhealthy' (which they aren't, as part of a balanced diet). Shame because it would be a nice alternative to cheese and ham.

I think the way the healthy eating guidelines are interpreted by some schools is unfortunate and risks creating a generation of children with food issues. The message about an overall balanced diet, with no foods regarded as the devil's work, seems to have been completely lost.

And from a quick look at the School Food Trust website, they don't seem to distinguish between the different needs of small children, older children and teenagers.

Something worries me more than anything.

The OP's child has had eating issues before. School are saying things are good/bad whatever, could bring them back.

Maybe this is why my 14 year old cousin is obsessing over his weight and counting calories

At our primary school we dont not allow any child to eat their given lunch. We have one lad who only ever eats 1 packet of Monster Munch for lunch.

OTOH a local pre-school refuses to let the children eat any chocolate or sweets. They tell them to eat them on the way home.

Teachers are given the job by the government of writing a healthy lunchbox policy where you tell parents that children should not bring chocolate, sweets, etc. This should protect those children that have an awful lunchbox everyday - e.g ADHD child who has e-number jellies EVERYDAY! even though his mum knows they make him worse - afternoons are always fun!!
However, I do think that there is too much emphasis on healthy eating in schools and that education is being used as a tool by the government to solve childhood obesity. Since schools have begun doing this obesity rates have risen so it is obviously not working. Children need a balanced diet and most parents are capable of providing one. I don't think that jaffa cakes constitute an unhealthy snack - they're hardly the same as a kingsize mars are they??

(falafels are nice with a tomato sauce and couscous)
Also don't think that school has the right to confiscate food when mums and dads think that they have sent their child to school with a filling lunch - maybe a quick word with parents later if it is against their policy? (not that i really agree with that either but saves any hurt to the child.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma with my kids' lunchboxes. Their school is really hot on healthy eating but with the cost of everything shooting through the roof I'll be blowed if I'm going to put fruit and veg / salad into their lunchboxes when it comes back uneaten and only fit for the bin. Both boys do a lot of sport after school so need more than just a sandwich and yoghurt to sustain them. I've started baking cakes / biscuits etc and put one or two of these in but combined with the fact that both boys will only eat white bread (DS1 is gluten intolerant and tells me the 'brown' bread is yucky) I can feel a letter of complaint heading my way! They will eat fruit and veg / salad at home (although not as much as they ought to) but don't like it in their lunchboxes!

My kids have been reprimanded by dinner-ladies for having nutty bread. Er, have the dinner-ladies never come across whole-meal? I can't give it to them anymore because they're so worried about getting into trouble.

Hi, my DS has just started reception. During our meeting with the Headteacher (with the other parents) she spelled out what would not be acceptable in lunchboxes. No Crisps / No confectionary / No sweets / no fizzy pop / No biscuits / No chocolate puddings (any sweet puddings apart from yoghurts).
As the Headteacher said - she cannot stop people feeding kids whatever they want at home her example was two packets of crisps and a marsbar for tea (she highlighted this as a lunch box a child came to school with), but at her school she would at least have decent standards. She is a very outspoken woman, but I have to say that I agree with her. The parents at DS school are aware of the standards she expects. The reason the school is outstanding in every area is due to her hardwork.
I chose to send DS for school dinners (which are also healthly) but they get to have cake and custard...hmm

It is so annoying the way these threads dissolve into "stupid schools" and "stupid teacher threads". Is it so important that your child goes to school with a chocolate bar? Are you not able to sacrifice that so that all other children get a better chance at a healthier lunch. It is so denigrating to teachers to put all the blame on them and to so openly relish an opportunity to take them on.

Well said Bamboo.
x

.....and as for dinner ladies and meals supervisors, they are regularly portrayed here as thick and totally unable to make a judgment about anything. They are doing their best in a poorly paid, thankless job.