Those who have a birthday bring treats
At most schools, birthdays are celebrated with treats. Most parents in the survey indicate that they are allowed to choose what their child brings to school as a treat (62%). In addition, a small proportion of parents say that their child is only allowed to bring healthy treats to school (10%).
At some schools, birthdays are celebrated differently: just over 12% of parents indicated that birthday children do receive festive attention, but are not allowed to bring treats.
A celebration either way!
The majority of parents believe that birthdays should be celebrated at school with treats. Almost half of parents believe that there should be no restrictive rules about this: they want to be able to decide for themselves what their child brings as a treat at school (46.8%). A smaller group of parents believes that treats should only be healthy (12.6%).
Birthdays can also be celebrated at school without treats. Almost 30% of parents believe that birthdays should be celebrated this way: a celebration, but no treats.
Policy versus reality
Some schools have rules about treats. However, these rules are not always enforced. Parents on the panel indicated that this means they can bring whatever treats they want, even if the school policy says otherwise.
About the poll
A total of 865 parents with a child in primary education took part in this flash poll. Would you also like to share your views on important school-related topics? Sign up for the National Parent Panel.