School lunch rant - Would you complain?

milliebear00001

GobbledyGook wrote: »

I'm raging at my daughter's school. She goes packed lunches as the quality of meals in her school is quite poor and their stock vegetarian meal seems to be macaroni cheese which she isn't very keen on (and I'm not keen on her having 4 days a week).

Anyway they are doing this whole "healthy eating" thing and a few times she's had things removed from her. I really object to it, but didn't say anything and just told her we'd have to follow the rules better (I don't believe in contradicting the school in front of her as I think it's a bad example).

However today she has come home with a slip to say that I owe the school money for her lunch as her packed lunch was deemed "unsuitable" by the lunch attendant (who is a classroom assistant). The note also had a handwritten addition stating that "dunkable type dips" are not an appropriate lunch for a child and she was given a school meal. It also said that the amount of food she brought was far too much. Also enclosed was the food guide they give out.

Her lunch was humus (homemade), guacamole (not homemade), slices of carrot, pepper and celery and 2 breadsticks. She also had a tub of mixed fruit, a tomato (she eats tomatoes like other kids eat apples) and some strawberry milk. Now she did have rather a lot of veg in her box, but I'm happy for her to eat as much of the veg as she wants.

So they took that off her and gave her a plate of macaroni cheese, potatoes, a yoghurt and her water bottle. How is that healthier?

They also told her (she's 7) that she wasn't to bring an unhealthy lunch to school again as she didn't want to get fat. I'm bloody fuming - imo you don't say things like that to children.

Anyway I'm seeing her teacher tomorrow for parent's night, but I was thinking of asking to see the Head in the morning about this lunch thing as I'm so annoyed. Would you?

Thanks. Gemma x

I'm a teacher. I'd be fuming. I would speak with the Head.

ellay864

My teenage son takes a packed lunch but I admit they're not the most adventurous or mega healthy - always cheese spread sandwiches (he wont eat anything else), some crisps, a biscuit and an apple, with water to drink. But he comes home and has a proper cooked meal every night (well almost!) so to me that lunch is not the be all and end all. The lunch police havent reached his school yet but it bugs me that there are kids having the school dinners who I know go home to takeaways or junk food every evening. Overall I know what I'd rather my son did
I cant believe that they condemn you for that lunch - I wish mine would eat stuff like that as packing for picnics etc has always been a nightmare for me. Stick to your guns and definitely make sure the school know how you feel. And the fat comment...the person who said that should be removed from any lunch duty if that's what she says

jackieglasgow

sunnth wrote: »

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.

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

I would make a list of all your questions/suggestions/points and especially this one as I would find it difficult to control my anger and speak coherently.

Loz01

Omg I'd be raging :eek: talk about food police!! I would def speak to the head about it, especially as the meal they gave your daughter was worse! The lunch you provided sounded very balanced and healthy.

julie03

i agree with jackieglasgow, i would write things down that you wanted to say, i would be furious as well, in my sons school its just fizzy drinks and chocolate and sweets, so not that policed

the worlds gone mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

banwa

The lunch you made for your daughter sounds absolutey delicious and nutritious, and to replace it with macaroni cheese does seem rather a [STRIKE]bad [/STRIKE]strange decision.

Just thinking though, what exactly does the note say? To an untrained eye it looks like a lot of fruit and veg and not a lot of carbohydrate. They may have been worried there wasn't enough energy for a 7 year old. (Please don't take this as a criticism, I'm sure there was, I'm just trying to see where they might have been coming from)

Although if they were that worried they could have let her eat the healthy lunch and given her an extra bread roll.

Loz01

Forgot to say, my niece has had YOGHURTS taken from her :eek: - not choc ones, strawberry/raspberry ones! And the Frube ones (basically the same yoghurt but in a tube shaped packet, SIL freezes them to keep them cold) - she got told theyre unsuitable :eek: a yoghurt !!!!!!.

Mme.Hibou

sunnth wrote: »

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 have a feeling that the TA probably doesn't know what humous and guacamole are, she may have seen them with the other dips in the fridge cabinet and thinking they're all the same.

Like others have said, you should not hand over any money for the meal they gave to your daughter.

It's threads like this that make me more determined to home school.

elvis86

sunnth wrote: »

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.)

I agree with everything you've said, but your last statement concerns me. Surely it should have been the parent you approached, not the child? What primary school child do you know that goes out and does the shopping and packs their own lunch?

It sounds to me like the Teaching Assistant has got ideas well above her station! As sunnth said, I'd challenge the Head on just what qualifies this person to police lunches in this way? From the sounds of it, perhaps guidance has been given regarding "dunkable" snacks (Dairylea etc), and the Teaching Assistant has chosen to protest against this (maybe she's opposed to healthy eating and feeds her own kids !!!!!!? Maybe she's been pulled up on it?) by applying the rules to your son? Just a possibility...

There is also a possible implication with allergies, if you deliberately sent your child with packed lunches because they had allergies and you needed to control what went into their lunch? I know you would make the school aware of any allergies regardless, but one wonders whether this Teaching Assistant would have bothered checking before she took it upon herself to give your child a school meal.:cool:

Janepig

GobbledyGook wrote: »

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.

I don't see this as a problem - DD/DS's school does this, you can either take a piece of fruit in or they have a fruit stall where they can buy some otherwise.

However, I would be fuming about the reaction to your child's packed lunch and I agree with one of the earlier posters who suggests that you question what training this teaching assistant has had in healthy eating and nutrition because she seems to be pretty bloody clueless to me. I'm not someone who believes in confronting the school over trivial issues, but this is something I would definitely be confronting them on. And I definitely wouldn't be paying for the lunch, they can whistle for that!

Jxx