Policing Packed Lunches: Points of View

In the week where the saga of “Oreogate” hit our social media feeds, former Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith has entered the debate, calling for more “draconian” rules regarding packed lunches to ensure children are eating healthily. From September, stricter rules are coming into force regarding healthier food standards in schools, and Benedict’s Law mandates that all school staff are trained in allergies and anaphylaxis. But Dame Leith suggests that the only way to entirely ensure healthy food options is to ban packed lunches. But is this a reasonable proposition? What are the cost implications of such a measure? And is this an inclusive approach? To what extent has policing packed lunches gone too far? And… as new terms start across the UK, how important is the language that we use inside our classrooms in terms of setting expectations? An article in the TES specifies five phrases to ban from the classroom… are there any we can add?