“We saw that treats at school were becoming increasingly unhealthy,” Helder says, “and that sometimes ended with pizzas, crisps and cola. That is cheap and easy for parents. Because actually everyone would like healthy treats, but that is not feasible for all parents. Healthy treats are simply more expensive. However, the biggest advantage of our new policy is that unhealthy food is no longer brought into the school.” Helder also discusses the parents’ response: “Not all parents liked it equally at first. Now everyone is so used to it that it is no longer missed. So it is also a matter of getting used to it.” A fine example of this is Ayse, a pupil in year 5. She is allowed to visit ‘teacher’ Meint to choose a gift.
The same video also features a visit to the Catholic primary school De Hasselbraam in Etten-Leur. There, Ilse van den Bemt, internal support coordinator at De Hasselbraam, explains why the school changed its policy: “For hygiene reasons, bringing treats and eating at school were no longer allowed. We then decided to start, from one day to the next, ‘treating’ children in a different way, whereby birthday children are allowed to choose activities.”
The last school visited is the public primary school Anne Frank in Gorinchem. You can read more about their policy here.
About the ‘Wie jarig is viert feest’ website
The campaign website ‘Wie jarig is viert feest’ is an initiative of GGD zhz, JOGG Zuid-Holland Zuid, GGD Haaglanden, GGD West-Brabant and Glos Educatief. The site explains why schools should switch from treats to parties, offers a step-by-step plan for developing a party policy and provides examples of party cards for younger pupils and older pupils with fun activities.