HEADTEACHERS have vowed not to ban packed lun-ches and say they encourage healthy eating in schools.

Oxfordshire schools say they already impose bans on sugary food and fizzy drinks, and healthy eating is part of the curriculum.

It comes as a Government-commissioned report recommends banning packed lunches so all children would be forced to have school dinners.

But Rose Hill Primary School manager Charmaine Swift said parents must have a choice and opposed any ban.

She said: “What are some parents going to do if they can’t afford school meals? We don’t have a problem with parents providing lunchboxes. What we find is some parents, for lots of reasons, can’t always find healthy items.”

Mum-of-three Stephanie Ballard, 26, whose children go to Rose Hill Primary School and have packed lunches, said: “It would be ridiculous if the Government banned packed lunches. School dinners can cost a fortune for a parent.”

School meals in the county cost £2 and are delivered in partnership by Oxfordshire County Council and Carillion’s catering service. Nationally, 43 per cent of children take up school meals – in Oxfordshire the figure is 34 per cent. Zara Darchambaud, headteacher at New Marston Primary School, said pupils there had a choice of a school meal or packed lunches, and they ran healthy eating initiatives, including reward stickers and healthiest class of the week.

She said: “We have Healthy Schools status so throughout our curriculum we promote the importance of eating a healthy and balanced diet.

“Our school council members play an active role in the school.

“One of their jobs is to promote healthy eating and they often give stickers to children who make healthy choices at lunchtime.”

Louise Hatton, headteacher at Bletchingdon Primary School, near Bicester, believed parents should have the choice.

She said: “We offer school or packed lunch and believe it is right for parents to have the choice.”

The Government commissioned Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, who founded the Leon Restaurant chain, to look at the school meal system.

The report suggests making “cultural changes” at schools such as “chucking out prison-style trays”, teachers eating in the dining hall, and “banning packed lunches”.