The Food and Nutrition Policy states: “All partners should model healthy lifestyles when on school grounds. Parents are encouraged to provide their children with a healthy breakfast before school and to send nutritious foods to school as snacks, lunches or for special events.”
Eating habits are formed in the home at a young age. We encourage you to reinforce what your child learns at school with healthy eating practices at home. Keep in mind that whenever possible, you should avoid associating food with a reward system.
To support our healthy food policy and ensure the safety of our children with allergies, we cannot allow families to send in food or treats for a whole class to share in honour of a child’s birthday or a special holiday. As you may know, we already discourage children from sharing their lunch food, as some of our students have life-threatening allergies to a variety of foods such as dairy products and nuts. Parents of these children have asked us to attend to their children’s safety by ensuring they only eat the foods they bring from home. We also have students who have dietary restrictions because of other medical, religious or cultural reasons. Although everyone appreciates the gesture of families who wish to share a special treat, out of respect for the health and welfare of our school community, the sharing of all foods within our school is prohibited. Thank you for your usual cooperation in helping us ensure that Sherbrooke Academy Junior is a safe, healthy and inclusive school. In the event of a teacher planned class activity, which involves food, parents will be informed by the teacher well in advance of the event (sampling vegetables and fruits, medieval feast…) and let parents know of the healthy foods that will be served. Teachers will provide specific instructions to parents should the teacher be asking parents to send in healthy snacks (e.g. vegetables with dip, cut-up fresh fruit, etc.).