is this inappropriate behaviour by a head teacher?

mum-of-two_2

minimoneysaver wrote: »

It sounds to me like a head who has a, "Hitler" complex. This head needs to be sorted. No-one should be going through your children's lunch boxes and lecturing the children on where they can or can't eat when they are out of schoool. This head teacher does not have parental rights and needs to be reminded of that fact. He is a disgrace to the teaching profession.

minimoneysaver
Yes, this Head is like that.

Does anyone know if legally a school can dictate what children bring in for packed lunches?
And whether it is acceptable for food that is deemed 'unhealthy' to be put back into their lunchbox by a teacher?
i.e. stop them eating certain food.

Thanks

lola34

Glad its not just me who thinks this whole healthy eating thing is going way out of proportion, Mum of two your first post could have been written by me, we have this going on at school, mine are on dinners but I have heard of children in tears as something has a chocolate chip in and they might get into trouble.

We had a meeting when DS1 was in lower school on the importance of healthy eating and drinking water - I felt so patronised I was fuming.

From your last post I think someone mentioned there was guidelines on a website re what sould be in a packed lunch but I must admit I haven't looked for it, try your local council one.

Indie_Kid

lola34 wrote: »

From your last post I think someone mentioned there was guidelines on a website re what sould be in a packed lunch but I must admit I haven't looked for it, try your local council one.

Is it anything to do with http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/Default.aspx ?

k1mmie

When my children were at primary school, (last one left 4 years ago), the lunch boxes were checked daily. Anything considered "unhealthy" was removed. I was pleased it was being monitored, but felt that rather than just removing the food, perhaps a list of suggestions sent home to the parents would have offered better support and advice. During his last year in school, the kids all brought letters home saying the government want to start weighing the kids, but you could refuse. I would suggest a letter to the head saying that you are not happy with the diet issue and certainly not on having your children weighed if you arent happy with it.

The trouble is, no matter how much primary schools reinforce healthy eating, by the time they get to secondary schools they have access to foods without you knowing. My childs school does not allow vending machines, but there is the odd day that chips/pizza etc are on the menu. And dont forget they probably walk past a sweet shop etc en route to school. All you can do as a parent is offer advice and teach them the effects and balance of food.

mumOf2wonderfulkids

mum-of-two wrote: »

Mumoftwowonderfulkids

It's exactly this sort of potential obsession with weight at such a young age that I'm worried about.
It's bad enough coping with seeing skinny models and pop stars on TV and in magazines without this being drummed into them at school.

Exactly! we have been told by the Child development team to ''fatten'' her up and it is like an uphill battle! thing is both my two have always been very healthy eaters, fruit and veg over sweets and rubbish every time, and being told to feed your child lots of cheese and fatty things is a complete contradiction over what media/ schools/ government say,

is it any wonder there are so many people with eating disorders? there is always a constant battle for people to be seen as the ''perfect'' size that it then causes the person to become self conscious / depressed about themselves. Surely it is wrong to be drumming this sort of thinking into the minds of children??

babyshoes

I think the way the head teacher is going about this is definitely OTT. If a child regularly brings in a lot of junk food, then by all means send home a letter or phone the parent to discuss it, but to stop them eating a treat when the rest of the lunchbox is ok is just ridiculous. Again, it is fine to have general discussions with a group of students about healthy eating, but to single out items of a child's lunch box as unhealthy in front of their peers is certainly not good for that child, especially at primary level when the child won't feel able to speak up for themselves if they disagree! I agree with the suggestion of talking to parents in the PTA if you feel you can't speak to the HT directly.

I work with teenage boys with behaviour difficulties, and although we have casual discusisons about diet I would never take food away from a child! I have in the past commented to a parent that one boy was using all his lunch money to buy chocolate and fizzy drinks after which she started sending in sandwiches and less money, and might say to a student 'is that all you are eating for lunch?' if they only seemed to have chocolate/biscuits/doughnuts/crisps, but certainly have no objection to such things as a treat - to do so would be hypocritical as they see me eating a balanced lunch such as leftovers or a sandwich and fruit, which often includes a sweet treat afterwards.

The only thing we have banned totally is energy drinks, as many of our students have ADHD and this just makes most of them hyper - and obviously we can't have one rule for some and not others!

Indie_Kid

babyshoes wrote: »

I work with teenage boys with behaviour difficulties, and although we have casual discusisons about diet I would never take food away from a child! I have in the past commented to a parent that one boy was using all his lunch money to buy chocolate and fizzy drinks after which she started sending in sandwiches and less money, and might say to a student 'is that all you are eating for lunch?' if they only seemed to have chocolate/biscuits/doughnuts/crisps, but certainly have no objection to such things as a treat - to do so would be hypocritical as they see me eating a balanced lunch such as leftovers or a sandwich and fruit, which often includes a sweet treat afterwards.

The only thing we have banned totally is energy drinks, as many of our students have ADHD and this just makes most of them hyper - and obviously we can't have one rule for some and not others!

I think this is a much better approach.:)

clairehi

Our primary school have a clear policy on no sweets in lunchboxes. If kids are sent to school with sweets, a polite note gets sent home. Its the same rule for everyone - no exceptions. Thats the only fair way to do it.

Its unacceptable for a (head)teachers to tell kids on the spot their lunch is "unhealthy" and to confiscate food if this is without clear rules being in place and explained properly to parents beforehand.

There is a standard complaints process to go through, you dont need to rely on the opinions of MSE posters. If parents are dissatisfied with the school - complain in writing to the Head. If they are not satisfied with the reply - complain in writing to the Chair of Governors, If still not happy then you go to the LEA.

PatsyMcM

I think that concentrating on helping kids eat a healthy diet is important but some people go outside the limits of common sense
PR: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] I: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] L: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] LD: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] I: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL][URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] Rank: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] Traffic: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] Price: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL] C: [URL="javascript:{}"]wait...[/URL]
[IMG]chrome://seoquake/content/skin/close.gif[/IMG]

clairehi

mum-of-two wrote: »

Hi
I have 2 girls, aged 9 and 6, at a small village school.

I'm getting concerned about one thing that the headteacher is focusing on - namely diet.

The Head actually checks what is in childrens lunchboxes and if something is deemed to be 'not healthy', it's confiscated it from the child.

My oldest girl was told that a Nutrigrain bar wasn't healthy.

My youngest girl was told that cheese sandwiches are 'not healthy' - even though jacket potatoes with cheese are on the school dinner menu.

And it's not just me.
One Mum was saying that her child was sent home with a letter saying she was ONE POUND (yes, 16 ounces) overweight. The letter detailed a long list of illnesses that can be caused by obesity.

Another Mum said her daughter asked what blood pressure was.
This head (apparently) had said that being overweight can cause high blood pressure which can cause lots of health problems.

This school ran a presentation about salt in diet recently - for parents.

I'm a 38 year old woman who can read newspapers and listen to TV and I feel I don't need to be lectured by somebody about what is healthy for my children.
Their lunchtime meal is one-third of their meals and I usually cook their evening meal from fresh so I know what goes into them.
They rarely have McD's and other fast food.
They eat a varied diet with lots of fresh veg, meat, potatoes and pasta.

Both my girls are very slim and I'm really concerned that they are going to develop eating disorders if they are continually being given this 'unhealthy' message.

Does anybody agree that I have a point in being annoyed by what this head teacher is doing and saying or am I being unreasonable?

I'm not denying there IS an issue with some (but not all) childrens diet and weight, it's just the way this is being handled that is getting to me.

If I'm not being unreasonable, what can I do?
I don't feel confident enough to take this up with the Head as I'm sure my comments would be turned round against me.
I also don't want to cause issues in school for my girls by complaining.

At the very least, I feel that if she DOES have an issue with what parents are providing in lunch-boxes, she should take it up with the parents instead of the children in front of their peers.

Thanks

You have a valid grievance, but you need to get yourself a bit of confidence here. you will need to confront the Head if you want to take this further. You dont need to be aggressive, but perhaps ask him/her to provide a list of "approved"and/or "not approved" packed lunches in writing. Then if you feel the options given are not reasonable, you can dispute this with the Head, and the governors if he/she is stubborn.

You may find that when you ask for something in writing, they climb down. If your kids get any more hassle you will have a stronger case for complaint..