SCHOOL MEALS 2

CHARGE FOR PACKED LUNCHES
Headteacher Margaret Bousfield, of Fens Primary School in Hartlepool, wants children charged for bringing in packed lunches. She believes the increases in packed lunches are a protest against the government's introduction of healthy meals.

Ms Bousfield, said, "My concern about packed lunches is that, in many schools, meals are healthy and some schools are seeing an increase in packed lunches. There are cost implications for allowing young people to eat packed lunches in schools and introducing a cost may enhance the take-up of what are very healthy school meals."

She added, "I'm not saying that every child has an unhealthy packed lunch but if the government can tell schools what to provide in terms of food served that children pay for, then why not packed lunches?" (Source: Daily Mail, Oct/07)

LUNCHBOXES CONFISCATED
Teachers at Bayards Hill primary school in Oxford, raided pupil's lunchboxes to confiscate chocolate and crisps in a crackdown on junk food. After learning about the move, a group of 20 angry parents protested at the heavy-handed tactics.

One parent, Debbie Cummins, "'I've got no problem with healthy eating, but I've got a problem with schools and the Government telling me what to do." Headmaster Keith Ponsford admitted that staff had been 'a bit vigorous' during the crackdown.

He said, "What's happened here is that one or two of our staff have been a bit vigorous, taking out crisps and chocolate and giving them back at the end of the day. I think strong encouragement is as far as we can go." Maybe a bit more 'teacher training' is in order? (Source: Mail on Sunday, Jun/06)

SCHOOL MEALS 2

Prue Leith, chairman of the School Food Trust, said schools should lock children in at lunchtime to boost the take-up of canteen meals. She said if pupils were allowed off-site they were likely to buy chips and other unhealthy food and urged heads to put aside worries that parents would accuse them of infringing children's rights. Up to 400,000 pupils have deserted school meals since TV chef Jamie Oliver launched his crusade to banish junk food from canteen menus.

Miss Leith admitted school meals costing Ł2 represented a 'hefty' financial drain on some families but pointed out that many schools offered subsidies. She also suggested parents could dock pocket money to meet the cost. She said, "The average pocket money a child gets is Ł8.40 and even in primary school most children get Ł1 a day to spend on the way to school. Wouldn't it be better if that money went on school dinners rather than chocolate bars and fizzy drinks?"

She added, "One of the things that is stopping children having school dinners is the fact there is a chippy just down the road. Head teachers tend to think it is not their business to tell children where to go to lunch." (Well actually Miss Leith, it's not.) The trust's 'million meals' campaign aims to increase the numbers eating school meals from the current 3.2million. (Source: Daily Mail, Oct/07)

Ofsted claim that long queues and short lunchbreaks are contributing to the decline in take-up of school dinners, which are already seeing a fall after the introduction of healthy menus. Some schools had experienced a 25% fall in the number of pupils eating school dinners in the last year and in some schools, pupils bought snack food from the tuck shop during their morning break to avoid long queues at lunchtime. Inspectors also found that the high cost of healthy school dinners put many pupils off. (Source: Times Online, Oct/07)

Schoolchildren could be locked in at lunchtime to prevent them heading for chip shops and burger joints to buy junk food. Education chiefs in Denbighshire are frustrated that pupils have turned up their noses at the healthy menus introduced last year. They hope that by locking the school gates, youngsters will have no choice but to use the school canteen and eat something nutritious. Locking up pupils at lunchtime is one of a number of options being considered by education chiefs in Denbighshire to increase the take up of their healthy dinners, although the final choice would be a matter for individual schools. A Denbighshire spokesman said it was hoped that the policy would "ensure pupils are given a healthy food option".

He said, "Schools and the council have a duty of care towards its pupils throughout the school day, including lunchtimes, and this policy would look at only allowing those with parental consent to leave school for lunch. This is one of a number of initiatives to increase take-up of school meals. The council has included more fresh vegetables and salads on the menu and a reduction in convenience foods. A leaflet has been produced and is being distributed to parents this week containing details of our brand-new menus and other information relating to the service and free school meals."

Costly efforts to encourage school kids to eat healthily in Denbighshire were found to be risking the future of the service this time last year. Denbighshire councillors were last year told the county's pupils were not taking up healthy food options, with 40% more pupils eating school dinners when fast food was served. Coupled with increasing costs in healthy ingredients, the county admitted it was considering the "ongoing viability" of the service. It has since devoted Ł120,000 to solving the problem, and set up a working group to "understand the complex issues behind individual decisions to take or refuse school meals."

The head of Ysgol Brynhyfryd in Ruthin, Eleri Jones, said the school would continue to allow older pupils out, because of their need for independence. She said, "I am not overly concerned about what they do go and eat in town. There is a wide variety of food that they bring back." But younger pupils should remain on school grounds, and the next big step was ensuring they go for the healthier options. (Source: Daily Mail, Sep/07)

Pupils are ignoring the Government's healthy eating campaign in schools by setting up a black market in junk food. Chocolate, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks are being sold in playgrounds and behind the bike sheds of schools up and down the country. Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said, "First we saw contraband being brought into school in lunchboxes. Now it has gone a step further with junk food being smuggled in and sold on to other classmates. Children will find any means possible to eat what they want." Anyone surprised at this, apart from Education Secretary Alan Johnson? At Kidbrooke School in south-east London a 13-year-old boy admitted he sells junk food to other pupils. He said, "I put about 10p on top of everything I sell. I don't think I'm doing any harm, I'm providing a service." A very enterprising young man. (Source: Sunday People, May/06)

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