New School Year & 'that' Teacher

ash23

I think that saying the teacher is bullying the child is way overboard. She instructed them as to what they were and weren't allowed to have in their lunches.
I do agree that the healthy eating policy should have been explained to the parents at enrollment. We got the literature before the hildren even started. Although every year in the first week we get a letter home reminding us of the healthy eating policy and the treats are only allowed on a Friday.


Does the school have a healthy eating policy OP? Is it just that some teachers are more lax about it than others or was it never mentioned at all?

run_Forrest_run

ash23 wrote: »

Does the school have a healthy eating policy OP? Is it just that some teachers are more lax about it than others or was it never mentioned at all?

The school never mentioned a healthy eating policy and never issued any letters etc about such.

Folks, this is our second year and all of last year we had no issues. We provide a healthy lunch all the time, just like last year. All of a sudden issues arise...with the same teacher who raised issues for previous children the previous year, go figure.

@Mr. Presentable: read my posts again, we did not know that the teacher had an issue with certain items for lunch, as I said above, other teachers are perfectly fine with it.

Also, please define 'treats' so? Because without clearly defined literature (which does not exist in the school) you can always arrive at boundary conditions where one child has X and the other has a variant of X..where to draw the line.

run_Forrest_run

ash23 wrote: »

Does the school have a healthy eating policy OP? Is it just that some teachers are more lax about it than others or was it never mentioned at all?

The school never mentioned a healthy eating policy and never issued any letters etc about such.

Folks, this is our second year and all of last year we had no issues. We provide a healthy lunch all the time, just like last year. All of a sudden issues arise...with the same teacher who raised issues for previous children the previous year, go figure.

@Mr. Presentable: read my posts again, we did not know that the teacher had an issue with certain items for lunch, as I said above, other teachers are perfectly fine with it.

Also, please define 'treats' so? Because without clearly defined literature (which does not exist in the school) you can always arrive at boundary conditions where one child has X and the other has a variant of X..where to draw the line??

Flouting the rules :eek: ??

Daisy M

The only problemI would have with this is that the school did not let you know about the healthy eating policy. I would never start any kind of debate with my kids school over a trivial incident like this. Send a healthy lunch and then your daughter will have no problem, its not fair to tell her she can eat what you send and expect her to do so. Try and see this from your daughters point of view too.
I dont mean to get at you but your daughter is the one who has to attend this school and you fighting and taking a stance over something as silly as a few buns will not help
And just to add I do think the teacher handled it completely wrong she has let herself down, but dont stoop to her level.

Mr. Presentable

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

@Mr. Presentable: read my posts again, we did not know that the teacher had an issue with certain items for lunch, as I said above, other teachers are perfectly fine with it.

With all due respect rFr, in your opening post you put the following:

Now we baked a few buns (nothing too fancy, no chocolate or icing etc, just plain buns) and gave one to my daughter for lunch (along with a sandwich, apple and drink). The teacher told my daughter she can't eat it!

This was the sort of thing I heard about this particular teacher

Maybe I misunderstood, but it looks to me like you knew the teacher's policy

charlemont

Seems some people here have no problem with whatever rules the schools come up with regardless of how it affects the children, Sure rules are rules !

Cant believe this is still going on today in Irish schools.

ash23

charlemont wrote: »

Seems some people here have no problem with whatever rules the schools come up with regardless of how it affects the children, Sure rules are rules !

Cant believe this is still going on today in Irish schools.

I don't know where you're getting that from?
Just because I, and a few others, don't think there's any big deal with a teacher prohibiting junk food in the lunch box, doesn't mean I'll accept any rule going.
How exactly does this affect the child? other than she can't eat a bun in school? Am I missing something?
My daughter has never been allowed junk in her lunch and she has no major scarring from it.
It's not that big a deal.

SunnyLucy

ash23 wrote: »

I think that saying the teacher is bullying the child is way overboard.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree there ash23. A grown woman has made 5 year olds afraid to drink their juice during their lunch break and made one in particular cry by telling him she's "sick of him already" (can you imagine the tone she used while saying that, I doubt it was a nice one!). What would you call that? Maybe bullying isn't the correct word, but its definitely intimidating. Children these days should be able to trust in their teachers not fear them.

ash23

SunnyLucy wrote: »

I'm sorry but I have to disagree there ash23. A grown woman has made 5 year olds afraid to drink their juice during their lunch break and made one in particular cry by telling him she's "sick of him already" (can you imagine the tone she used while saying that, I doubt it was a nice one!). What would you call that? Maybe bullying isn't the correct word, but its definitely intimidating. Children these days should be able to trust in their teachers not fear them.

Wasn't that just hearsay though? Op heard that other parents said that. I didn't see anything to indicate that OPs child was in any way bullied by this teacher. She also "heard" that the kids were afraid to drink juice from other parents. After one day?

I don't like to take hearsay as fact. So far the teacher hasn't done anything much to OPs child, other than tell her that she can't have a bun.

If the other parents have concerns that their children are being bullied they should approach the teacher or principal. But in the OPs case, I don't think her child is being bullied.

SunnyLucy

As I said, I think bullying probably isnt the best word for it, but I do think the way the teacher is behaving is out of order. While I agree with you about not taking hearsay as fact it would seem her reputation has preceded her, I think the OP said as far back as June there were comments etc made about the way this particular teacher behaves towards the children, and maybe parents are being super watchful about the way she behaves but there is no smoke without fire, and something must have occured with the little boy for such comments to be made.

Also the OP said her daughter is afraid to eat her lunch until after school, even if the child is being over sensitive the teacher should surely spot that the child isnt eating her lunch and encourage her to do so or bring it to the parents attention, she was quick enough off the mark to stop her from eating her bun!

Stench Blossoms

SunnyLucy wrote: »

Also the OP said her daughter is afraid to eat her lunch until after school, even if the child is being over sensitive the teacher should surely spot that the child isnt eating her lunch and encourage her to do so or bring it to the parents attention, she was quick enough off the mark to stop her from eating her bun!

Where did the OP say anything about the child being afraid to eat the rest of their lunch?

All they said was

run_Forrest_run wrote:

I'm packing the bun and it's OK to eat it but if she feels afraid of the teacher she can leave it

ash23

SunnyLucy wrote: »

As I said, I think bullying probably isnt the best word for it, but I do think the way the teacher is behaving is out of order. While I agree with you about not taking hearsay as fact it would seem her reputation has preceded her, I think the OP said as far back as June there were comments etc made about the way this particular teacher behaves towards the children, and maybe parents are being super watchful about the way she behaves but there is no smoke without fire, and something must have occured with the little boy for such comments to be made.

Also the OP said her daughter is afraid to eat her lunch until after school, even if the child is being over sensitive the teacher should surely spot that the child isnt eating her lunch and encourage her to do so or bring it to the parents attention, she was quick enough off the mark to stop her from eating her bun!

And again, I just don't think the child should be put in the position in the first place once the initial reprimand was given by the teacher. I think it's awful for the poor child to be told at home "eat the bun and don't mind the teacher" and have to head into school knowing the bun is there and the teacher might reprimand her again. I just don't see the point in putting the poor child through that. I know my own daughter hates to be in trouble and if I did the same to her, she'd be sick with worry over thinking she might get caught with the offending item.

ash23

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Where did the OP say anything about the child being afraid to eat the rest of their lunch?

In the OP she says

I spoke with my daughter about it and said she is free to eat whatever we put into her lunchbox but of course now she's afraid of the teacher and is not eating her lunch until after school.

SunnyLucy

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

So we're back into a new school year and my daughter is now in senior infants and was really looking forward to going back.

On day one we find out which teacher is assigned to my daughter's class.
I've heard various stories about this particular teacher but I didn't pay too much attention to them as I wanted to see what she was like myself, no point in believing hearsay either.

My daughter came home a bit upset after the first day. The teacher made all the kids open their lunchboxes and she went through each one and told them they can't eat anything that looked like sweets etc.

Now we baked a few buns (nothing too fancy, no chocolate or icing etc, just plain buns) and gave one to my daughter for lunch (along with a sandwich, apple and drink). The teacher told my daughter she can't eat it!

This was the sort of thing I heard about this particular teacher. She puts fear into the kids over their lunch.

I also understand schools can only guide what goes into a child's lunch, they cannot force what goes in or doesn't go in.
I spoke with my daughter about it and said she is free to eat whatever we put into her lunchbox but of course now she's afraid of the teacher and is not eating her lunch until after school.

I'm thinking of having a chat with the teacher about this, I understand there may be some kids out there suffering from bad nutrition but teachers should not be making a big issue of eating lunch. It is the responsibility of parents to decide what their child eats, not the teachers.

So, what do ye think of this? Has this happened to anyone here?

I agree, she shouldn't be put in the position where she will get into trouble for whats in her lunch box, and like I said before, if the teacher has an issue with whats in the lunch box she should take it up with the parent who makes the lunch and not the child.

And again I was taking issue with the teachers behaviour in general and towards the other children too, and not the lunch box issue, I did say in an earlier post that it was pointless to get in a row with the teacher over a bun!

Stench Blossoms

SunnyLucy wrote: »

I agree, she shouldn't be put in the position where she will get into trouble for whats in her lunch box, and like I said before, if the teacher has an issue with whats in the lunch box she should take it up with the parent who makes the lunch and not the child.

And again I was taking issue with the teachers behaviour in general and towards the other children too, and not the lunch box issue, I did say in an earlier post that it was pointless to get in a row with the teacher over a bun!

I agree with you here that the teacher should have spoke to the parent BUT after the first day the parent knew the teachers stance so shouldn't have put another bun into the child lunch box and told them to eat it if they weren't afraid.

run_Forrest_run

OK, well we've had a lively one here...nothing else really to say without it turning into a points scoring match.
No more buns this week, BunGate has ended. Now, how does one make chocolate souffle

bryaner

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

OK, well we've had a lively one here...nothing else really to say without it turning into a points scoring match.
No more buns this week, BunGate has ended. Now, how does one make chocolate souffle

Lol lol..

Wantobe

My childrens' school also has a healthy eating policy- we were given a list of appropriate and non-appropriate foods ( as well as told no nuts, no fish etc because of allergies). Ironically on the list of appropriate treats for our school are fairy cakes ( buns), non-iced.:rolleyes:

Anyway I wouldn't sweat the small stuff, if I were you, OP!

run_Forrest_run

I forgot to mention, there are countless cake sales throughout the school year where kids are encouraged to bring in money and buy cakes and of course no healthy eating rules apply then....funny that :rolleyes:

Justask

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I forgot to mention, there are countless cake sales throughout the school year where kids are encouraged to bring in money and buy cakes and of course no healthy eating rules apply then....funny that :rolleyes:

Its a joke

My kids school has banned popcorn, a very healthy food IMO

Why????? cos the cleaner is moaning about it :mad:

CIARAN_BOYLE

Justask wrote: »

Its a joke

My kids school has banned popcorn, a very healthy food IMO

Why????? cos the cleaner is moaning about it :mad:

my secondary school had the same policy.

Regarding the OPs issues I think that it is not the place of individual teachers to create policies. If the school doesn't have the policy a teacher shouldn't be allowed invent one. The teacher should go to the principal and the board of management and propose a healty eating policy.

KittyeeTrix

Ridiculous that a kid cannot bring an un-iced fairy bun for lunch........Jeez, it's hardly a deep fried Mars Bar:(

Morag

A bun is a type of cake and there is no way to say that such a thing is considered a healthy food.

If a school has a healthy food policy then lunch box inspections are to be expected and children being told they can't eat what breached that policy, IF the school doesn't have that policy the you should speak to the prinicpal about the inspection.

When a teacher gets a new class for the year it's not unusual for them to be pretty strict for the first 4 to 6 weeks and once the kids know they can't get one passed the teacher they can ease up.

Lunches can be boring I get the need to try and pack things that kids will eat, anyone looking for suggestions I would say google bento lunches, I got some small tubberware with lids which my daughter and I fill for her lunch with fruit, carrots, sushi, pickles ect.

bryaner

Sharrow wrote: »

A bun is a type of cake and there is no way to say that such a thing is considered a healthy food.

If a school has a healthy food policy then lunch box inspections are to be expected and children being told they can't eat what breached that policy, IF the school doesn't have that policy the you should speak to the prinicpal about the inspection.

When a teacher gets a new class for the year it's not unusual for them to be pretty strict for the first 4 to 6 weeks and once the kids know they can't get one passed the teacher they can ease up.

Lunches can be boring I get the need to try and pack things that kids will eat, anyone looking for suggestions I would say google bento lunches, I got some small tubberware with lids which my daughter and I fill for her lunch with fruit, carrots, sushi, pickles ect.

Roflmfao..:rolleyes:

KittyeeTrix

Looked at the "Bento Lunches"................Definitely not for mine!!

bfocusd

[Quote=Lunches can be boring I get the need to try and pack things that kids will eat, anyone looking for suggestions I would say google bento lunches, I got some small tubberware with lids which my daughter and I fill for her lunch with fruit, carrots, sushi, pickles ect.[/Quote]


Everyone have a look at that site an look at at the pandas..
Is it just me that would spend more time admiring them than eating it? I'd feel like I was destroying a masterpiece.. Haha

Morag

bryaner wrote: »

Roflmfao..:rolleyes:

???
What's so funny?



Yes the notion of a bento box can seem silly but it is a way of packing things with dividers so that things say crisp and dont' go soggy and they look fun and appealing to kids to eat. Yes it take a little more planning and time then making a sandwich but the upswing my kid eats pretty much everything in it.

Justask

Sharrow wrote: »

A bun is a type of cake and there is no way to say that such a thing is considered a healthy food.

If a school has a healthy food policy then lunch box inspections are to be expected and children being told they can't eat what breached that policy, IF the school doesn't have that policy the you should speak to the prinicpal about the inspection.

When a teacher gets a new class for the year it's not unusual for them to be pretty strict for the first 4 to 6 weeks and once the kids know they can't get one passed the teacher they can ease up.

Lunches can be boring I get the need to try and pack things that kids will eat, anyone looking for suggestions I would say google bento lunches, I got some small tubberware with lids which my daughter and I fill for her lunch with fruit, carrots, sushi, pickles ect.

Bento lunches are grand for a 5 or 6 year old. Older then that the slagging would be unreal :rolleyes:

Morag

Bento lunches don't have to look like panda bears. Its just a lunch made of food arranged in a way which looks appealing when you open it and is more tasty then a sandwich.

http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics

What is bento?

Bento (written 弁当), or obento (お弁当) to use the honorific term, is the Japanese word for a meal served in a box. Beyond that basic definition though, just about anything goes as to what kind of box or container is used, as well as what is put inside that box,.
Different types of bento

(See also: Types of homemade bento.)

There are several different kinds of bento, with different purposes. Makunouchi bento are elaborate bento meals presented at formal meals, meant to be eaten at table. This is the type you will see served in restaurants, arranged in elegant lacquered boxes. Kouraku bento are picnic bento, to be shared by a group of people enjoying themselves outdoors - the most popular settings is while enjoying the cherry blossoms in spring ((o)hahanami). Ekiben (a shortened form of eki bento) are boxed meals sold at train stations for travellers (though nowadays you can buy ekiben at many other places, such as department store food halls or convenience stores).

The kind of bento that have garnered the most attention recently, especially outside of Japan are what are called kyaraben or charaben, ‘cute bento’ ‘art bento’ or ‘entertaining bento’ (entertain-bento), extremely elaborately decorated small works of art, as exemplified by the work presented on sites like e-obento (Japanese). These are usually made by mothers for their small children. There can be a high level of competitiveness in this arena - there are tons of contests and such that feature these bentos.

Finally, there’s the plain simple bento that most people bring to work or school for lunch. It’s important to note that most Japanese people do not spend their time making elaborate charaben or ‘cute bento’ - that’s more in the realm of a hobby and craft rather than practical everyday living. The type of bento that JustBento concentrates on for the most part are practical, tasty, healthy everyday bento lunches.

byhookorbycrook

These are usually made by mothers for their small children. There can be a high level of competitiveness in this arena - there are tons of contests and such that feature these bentos.

That's all we need!!!:D