Milk & fruit in schools

mini

My daughetr today declared soon she will be too old to drink milk she is soon to be 7, I wondered why, her answer was when she is in year 3 they don't have milk or fruit, so they mustn't need it. I understand the lottery funding for fruit in the early years but it seems a bit mad with all the emphasis on healthy eating, health of our children etc that simple measures are stopped so early. I'd really like other parents opinions on this before I raise it with the school, do any schools provide fruit to buy at snack time, I realise I can provide it but it doesn't seem to be eaten, whereas a carrot in theclassroom is. Also does all milk stop at the end of infants.

I may even do a poll would you pay milk & fruit money!

Thanks for reading

mini

Edinburghlass_2

The fruit is a new one on me as it came in after my daughter went to high school but when she was in primary they had to pay for milk. If they didn't take the milk, however they weren't allowed to take anything else in but could drink water from the fountains.

Ticklemouse

At my son's school, there is only milk for the infants, for which we pay £5 per term. They also have fruit or a carrot, which only started in their school in the last year. At first it was only for infants, but I seem to recall something about the juniors getting it - don't quote me, I'm not sure on that.

I agree that if you send it with them, it will probably not get eaten - most 'extra' fruit in DS1's lunch box comes home, because he wants to go and play. I think this is where peer pressure comes in to play. My son won't drink milk at home - he never has done, but has always drunk it at school, because it's in a carton and his friends all drink it. he does like his fruit and veg, but unless all of them sit and eat it, then at his age (Yr 1) he would leave it.

I would be prepared to pay for milk throughout primary school; fruit too, (even though he eats a lot at home), as long as it was reasonably priced.

Poppy9

School Meals & Milk

Some info here on School responsibilities.

Many heads are reluctant to get involved in charging parents for milk or fruit and veg as not only will some parents say they can't afford it or don't want it but there will be others who will simply not pay but eat and drink it. They have enough trouble collecting school dinner money in primaries.

Pink.

When my older children (now 14 and 11) were in infants nothing was provided. I sent healthy snacks for break, but it wasn't long before peer pressure set in and they wanted to know why they couldn't have crisps/biscuits/sweets/chocolate/fizzy drinks etc like all (?) their friends...

Eventually I gave in and said that they could have a chocolate biscuit but they would then only be allowed healthy snacks after school (which is when they normally got a treat). I drew the line at chocolate bars, sweets and fizzy drinks.

Now my youngest has just started primary one. Problem solved. The school asks parents to pay £1 per week for break. Kids are given a carton of milk and fruit. Fruit varies from day to day.......always apples oranges bananas etc but each day a different, more unusual fruit added (eg mango,kiwi, melon, pineapple etc)

Personally I think that this is a brilliant idea.......it encourages children to eat a more healthy diet, introduces them to different foods, and removes peer pressure to bring unhealthy food for break. Well worth the money as far as I'm concerned.

Pink

Spendless

My sons school is a seperate infants/juniors (ie 2 different heads). AFAIK only the infant school gets milk (i pay £5 a term for this).I didn't have to pay for milk last year when he was at the attached school nursery.

In the morning they all get a free piece of fruit or veg. It can be an apple,pear,orange,carrot or cherry tomotoes. Again i think this only applies to the infant school. I don't pay for the fruit because IIRC the school received some sort of funding for it.

Son who is a faddy eater has tried and now likes pears and carrots due to the fruit box scheme.

jellyhead

our school has fruit until kids are 7, nothing after. no milk but they did get it free in nursery (spud had water instead). he'd have a problem with unpeeled fruit, he's so clumsy it would take forever and he'd just want to go out and play. the fruit for the little ones seems to be given out at the end of the day too, they all take unpeeled oranges out of their book bags at home time and kick them around the playground. i'd rather provide fruit for him, grapes don't need peeling so he eats them fast enough to get out and play. he also takes bags of sliced apple, he can manage to eat the apple but leave the peel, you can buy bags of sliced apple in supermarkets (or mcd's sell apple/graps bags or carrot sticks).

occasionally they have a food tasting day, it was because of this he started eating raw carrot. tasting days are different because food will either be unpeeled or there will be help available. i realise my spud is clumsier than most children but there may well be younger children who can't manage to peel their own, or who don't like apple skin but would eat if if it was peeled/sliced. it would take forever to peeland slice enough fruit for a school at breaktime, probably have to be the PTA volunteering to do it.

Spendless

I've just asked my son about when they get the fruit (cos his isn;t fetched home) and about who peels it (cos he eats very little unpeeled fruit).

He says usually at first play, sometimes second play (i would guess that depends on what time the fruit delivery turns up) and that the teaching staff will help those that need fruit peeling.

Just discovered that this is why he normally opts for an orange as he can do this himself.

franky

20p sounds good for milk and fruit

Pink.

In my son's school the fruit is prepared by the classroom assistants. It is served to the children on a plate in the middle of each table, peeled and cut into bite size chunks.

As Franky says 20p a day for fruit and a carton of milk is very reasonable.

Pink

jockettuk

our school in peterborough has just started in the last yr the fruit scheme thing.. its for the whole of the school from reception through to yr 6 pupils. our head this is his 3rd yr with us now is very much into healthy eating. The milk thing is only up to end of yr 2. Your child should get it free up till there 5th birthday then pay for it after that normally abt 20p a week.

They get it peeled and ready to eat that way they find none is left lol