Saturday 18 January 2014

“All Your Kidz Are Belong To Us!!”

The actions of Valence Primary School head Elizabeth Chaplin, as outlined in the Barking Post last week (and picked up by the ‘Mail’) really shouldn’t have surprised anyone, should they?

After all, we’ve been here before. Haven’t we? With the power-mad who think they are there to do everything except teach reading, writing and maths?

Added to this the desire to gain brownie points by fitting in with the latest communiqué or scheme from the centre, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Headteacher Elizabeth Chaplin said that the school had a policy where midday supervisors disposed of half-empty drinks and yoghurt pots to prevent spillages in lunchboxes.
She added that children who were questioned over their drink contents were “more than happy to confirm or demonstrate the water content”.
And so, because the kids aren’t worried, then the parents shouldn’t be either, I suppose?
She confirmed the parents who wanted to take their children out of school had been offered transfer forms, but they had not been completed and the children had returned to school. She said: “Regrettably our attempts to promote a healthier lifestyle have been received negatively by a very small minority.
“We are undertaking a review of the whole lunchtime provision and the review group will include representatives from the parents, pupils, staff and governors.”
Maybe the publicity will have emboldened a few more parents to stand up and say ‘No! This is not why we send our kids to school!’.

Still, could be worse. Elizabeth can only dream of the power schools seemingly have in Canada*:
A Manitoba mom was slapped with a $10 fine because the lunches she packed for her kids’ lunches didn’t have any Ritz crackers.
It happened a few years ago, but has only recently come to light. It caused a fuss at the time, but, frankly, not enough of one:
According to Weighty Matters blog, which first reported her story, Bartkiw says the Canadian province has moved to a hot lunch program in daycares in order to remedy the problem of parents sending less than ‘balanced’ lunches with their kids.
She says she likes the new policy much better.
So she’s actually quite happy for the school to dictate what her kid eats, so long as it causes no trouble or (immediate) cost for her?

*H/T: SadButMadLad via Twitter

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm ambivalent on this one as children bouncing about on a sugar high disrupt teaching. It's also good to learn young that water is what we're designed to drink before they move onto juice and vodka.

Anonymous said...

Bunny

Another argument for sending children to private schools, though the brat from Stoneyhurst had an earring.

FOTD said...

Crimminey! A head teacher unable to understand the difference between PROMOTING and ENFORCING a particular lifestyle.

Woman on a Raft said...

No juice.

I am surprisingly sympathetic to this rule, but then I'm the one who has had to mop up the ruddy stuff when the child gets confused and squeezes the juice box, squirting it over the kid next to them, who then gets chased by wasps in the playground.

The school is, correctly, supplying all the fresh, safe drinking water which all humans are evolved to run on.

If mum wants to serve Mountain Dew when she - or dad - is there to mop the ghastly stuff up, that is their business, but until they can send poppet in with their own personal maid, they can jolly well get over their sense of being a special magic snowflake.

The Blocked Dwarf said...

"I'm ambivalent on this one as children bouncing about on a sugar high disrupt teaching."

I thought science had debunked that particular Health Nazi myth? The colouring used in certain drinks did used to effect some kids with certain disorders...'tartrazine'something I think?

I have no problem with schools banning drinks that cause problems a la WOAR but when they go on to prescribe what MUST be in a lunchbox etc then that's a step too far down the low-fat road to Dietary Dachau.

JuliaM said...

" It's also good to learn young that water is what we're designed to drink before they move onto juice and vodka."

No problems with the school just providing water. But as The Blocked Dwarf notes, removing it from lunches is a step far too far.

"A head teacher unable to understand the difference between PROMOTING and ENFORCING a particular lifestyle."

Not so surprising. I reckon most of them are unable to understand that!

"...but then I'm the one who has had to mop up the ruddy stuff when the child gets confused and squeezes the juice box, squirting it over the kid next to them, who then gets chased by wasps in the playground."

I do have sympathy, but that's not the stated reason - it's so the head can bask in the praise when she wins an award.

I wonder whether she's be as happy to enter if these rules were applied to the teaching staff too?

Anonymous said...

BD. You don'tvhang around children enough. Some, not all, go from calm to monstrous after a sugar hit.