School lunch rant - Would you complain?

shelley_crow

Definately approach the head, if possibly get your daughter to be there so that she can tell the head what the luch assistant told her about getting fat verbatim. It's absolutely disgusting, I know they are trying to tackle the obesity problem but surely creating a generation of anorexics is equally as bad?

I hope your daughter gets a full and unreserved apology and that they stop trying to feed her crap and school at let her eat her own lunch.

POPPYOSCAR

I would be absolutely livid if I were you. How dare they take her lunch away from her.When my daughter was at primary they had a rule of no chocolate or sweets except for one friday in the month as a treat, which I thought was acceptable. But this is a step too far!!!!! I would make it clear to the head that you are very unhappy the way your daughter was treated and that her lunch is more than acceptable and that they are not under any circumstances to replace her food. I would also refuse to pay for the meal they gave her - if you get no joy from the head I would contact the local education authority and see what they say.

pebbles88

oh my goodness, thats ridiculous!!

i dare say the 'teaching assistant' that deemed your packed lunch 'unhealthy' has not got a clue about healthy eating!!!

houmous - good source of protein and fibre from natural source..ie chickpeas

guacamole - nutrional powerhouse with the avocado!!

veggies - perfectly healthy, and bloody taty with the aforementioned dips!!!

i hope you get them sorted. i can understand schools getting involved if a parent wasnt botherd about the kid ate, and was giving them utter carp....

but for a very healthy packed lunch like that :eek::eek::eek:

my nephews school has a no packed lunch policy - which i think is terrible, as they are forced to eat overpriced rubbish, and pay £3 plus for a sandwich just because its toasted... ie a panini!!! :eek:

sunnth

I would agree that making an appointment to see the head in the morning is a good idea. It is possible that the head doesn't even know what happened and would sort this out straight away so that it doesn't happen again.

I would not pay for the dinner as the school chose to give it to your child when he/she did have an alternative lunch provided by you.

If it is a teaching assistant that has control over what children eat and whether their lunch is appropriate, I would want to know what training they have had in nutrition and diet and i would want to see the healthy eating policy in writing. I find it difficult to believe that a school would not recognise hummus and guacamole as healthy choices and I would want to investigate this if it was my children.

( I am a primary teacher by the way, with primary aged kids of my own- I'm glad my kids school does not have any policing of lunches - although if a child repeatedly brings in only crisps, chocolate etc or very little food then we do talk to the child about their choices and how they could change their lunch - this has only happened once in 10 years of teaching there as far as i'm aware.)

amandada

Your daughter's lunch should be getting held up as an example of an excellent lunch!!!

Jo_R_2

On a nutritional level, I'd be ecstatic if my kids ate that for their lunch! I and my DDs are all veggie, and they are some good foods nutritionally for anyone, especially a vegetarian. Just for starters, houmous = chick peas for protein and calcium, sesame seeds = protein and omega oils, guacamole = omega oils, raw veggies = vitamins A and C amongst others.

I'd agree with having a word with the head, and would also be particularly interested in the person who decided that 'dunkable type dips' weren't appropriate and if they could go through and explain why in this particular case, just to clarify? Also why a macaroni cheese would be deemed healthier - and in nutritional terms please?:) And what exactly in their terms constitues 'unhealthy'?

Also if someone said that to any of my kids at that age about getting fat I'd be furious - that IMO is the wrong approach to teaching healthy eating and I steer away from that, especially having two DDs, with the worry about them growing up taking that on at such a young age and the implications it can have.

blabberwort

We had letters and comments in my sons old school about his packed lunch. We tried him on more healthier foods but it got to the point he went without food all day as he didnt like what we gave him. I decided after a few days of this that he'll bloody well eat what he wants and stuff the school (He does have special needs and theres very few foods he will eat and rarely trys anything new no matter how nice it looks).

His new school did send a note just before easter but I replied back explaining we had tried to change his lunch before to no avail and i've heard nothing since. My son has the same food every day and while it's not all healthy, it's what he likes and he doesnt like change. He does 2 lots of swimming a week plus pe twice a week and football after school once a week. Heck he gets more exercise than a lot of adults, so no way would I consider changing his lunch box again. It's to stressful for him and ends up with him going without, as he wont eat school dinners hence lunch box.

I find it disgusting that schools can dictate what children eat if it's not within reason, and it certainly sounds like your childs lunch box was a heck of a lot healthier than their school dinner.

jennypdolphin

Definately speak to the head, take the same lunch in with you when you go to speak with them to ensure they can see that there is no problem with the meal! It may be worth printing off some info to show how healthy asnd nutritious the packed lunch was.

The bizarre thing is that I am a teacher and last year I did a "healthy lunchbox workshop" with parents and everything that you included (bar the strawberry milk) was actually on our list of suggestions for lunches!!

garthdp

Can you make my lunch please?

What were they thinking.I would send them a bill for the food they wasted.

GobbledyGook

I'm getting madder as the night goes on rather than calming any.

Having read through the stuff we were given when she started everything states that there is a healthy food "guide" in place. In it it says things like "Try to avoid putting fizzy and/or sugary drinks in your child’s lunchbox."

So why the hell is this TA taking food from children if it's just a guide?! Right appointment will be made in the morning and they'll be getting told not to touch her lunch again. A very pregnant, very hormonal Mum is not a person to wind up!

Jo_R - it's really hard to find things to feed her to make sure she gets all the food groups and things she needs. I'm not vegetarian myself and neither is her father so it's only since she became veggie that I've had to find things. She watched an inappropriate programme at a friends house about the making of cheap takeaways and seen chickens hung for plucking. I get the impression that the school think I'm being daft for "humouring her phase", but she's determined so I'm happy to support it.

Thanks all. I think I might phone the education dept to find their stance on the issue as the school are very rigid on it. The children aren't allowed sugary juices at all and at break-time they are only allowed fruit not a sweet or crisps. I'm wondering though if they are actually allowed to do that.

Gemma x