School dinner @ £1.20 vs a lunchbox meal?

fizzel81

ive got untill the start of new half term (ie november) to decide what ds will be having at lunchtime when he starts on full days, if i ask him 1 day its school dinners next its lunchs

anyway back to my question/advice needed (sorry !)
a school lunch is £1.20 menus are given weekly (i think) vs my lunch that at the moment stands uncosted

my younger 2 take a lunch daily to there childminders consisting of
a sandwich useally ham or chicken and cucumber
a bag of crisps (wotsits or quavers asda branded)
small fromage frais
box of rasions
carrot and cucumber sticks
apple

whats best way of costing this vs a school dinner, is it sufficiant enough for a energetic 5 year old, how can i make it more interesting? time is a problem if im working an early (ie start work at 9) also there lunch box's sit on a trolly untill lunchtime

sorry for the ramble

Pink.

Hi fizzle,

There's a great thread here with lots of ideas to make lunchboxes more interesting: back to school packed lunch os ideas?

Pink

sweetnskint

i do wraps, crackers,rolls and salad pots with carrot sticks etc...much healthier than school dinners (sorry jamie ol);)

HariboJunkie

His lunches sound fine and will definitely be cheaper than £1.20 per day. You could try making your own yoghurt which would bring down the costs and I buy alot of jelly which makes 5 little tubs which I add fruit to for lunch time puddings. Carrot sticks are very cheap when you think a big bag of carrots is less than 50p and should last a week. Don't buy boxes of raisins, just decant some from a big value bag into little tupperware pots.
Look out for yellow stickered stuff too. Mine often get pitta breads and bagels as they have been reduced to 10p and they make a nice change for them.
Our school dinners are £1.65 per day nd I have 2 children. I reckon my lunches average out at about 70p per day so I am saving literally hundreds of pounds a year by opting for having school lunches only [STRIKE]when I really really can't be arsked[/STRIKE] in emergencies.

echelon101

It would all depend on what the school lunches are if they are just chips+fish/sausages/burger + one piece fruit + fizzy drink then it isn't a good idea. However inserting a bag of crisps in a lunch box isn't a good idea either.

I am sure it would be pretty simple to get a good lunch box together for £6 a week.

Poppy9

wow £1.20 is cheap for a school meal.

I used to pay £1.50 when DD was at primary school 3 years ago and I thought that was good value. I now give her £3 a day to buy her lunch in school.

I hate making packed lunches and DD dislikes sandwiches but it's too awkward to eat bowls of pasta, couscous etc in senior school and she likes to buy at the canteen.

I would ask to see the menu for the school meals. They are good for introducing children to new foods as they are encouraged to try by seeing their friends eating something.

mambury

£1.20!??

My school charges £1.85 and the portions are tiny..........and as its a rural school the meals are made 15 miles away and taxied to the school everyday!

stef240377

Where my kids go to school the daily allowance is £1.95 a day. When they were younger i found it was easier for them to have school dinners for several reasons, time saving a main one but another thing mentioned by their primary school was to give some kids a variety of meals they would not necesarily have at home. Think of how many kids had never seen fruit and veg and you will see where im coming from. As your child already has plenty of fruit and veg and from what sounds like a balanced diet a dinner lady would love him, at schools here kids with healthy appetites are paired up for lunch with those they know will only see a proportion of their 5 a day in the meal infront of them so having a child who is not fussy sat besides them gives them gentle encouragement to try new foods and prove it wont harm them and can be enjoyable.

School dinners have changed a lot of the years and if you are worried about what a dinner looks like ask the school if they mind you popping in around lunch time to see for yourself. Again our local schools hold 'parents and grandparents' days so that family can learn what the meals are like and try them for themselves, this is usually done however before the transition of half days to full.

Alybea

I don't have children but i do remember having packed lunches at school most of the week but when it was a PE day and therefore i had loads of stuff to carry - book bag, lunch & PE kit . I used to have school dinners - this might be a consideration?
(I'm a child of the 80s so by the time i was older at primary school the kitchens had all gone :rolleyes:)

I've never got ill from my packed lunch sitting in a room for a few hours - I really wouldn't worry about things not being refrigerated - especially not in November!

lil_me

Wow that's a big lunch box for one little boy, suppose if that's an all day thing maybe different. My youngest (7 and he's the biggest) takes sandwich, piece of fruit (or dried fruit), piece of cheese (about 30-40g) and a yoghurt. This costs me about £1 per day, never costed it properly, he changed because he wanted to and I wasn't happy when he came home saying he'd had cheese sandwich and mashed potato for dinner? Keeping it cool, I put it in the fridge the night before and he hasn't complained, it's eaten within 3 hours of coming out of the fridge. One option is a cool block or freezing the drink/sandwiches/yoghurt. Mine love those Frubes (because they struggle with spoons) and you can freeze them so I tend to put it in the box frozen so it's nice and cold when they eat it.

comping_cat

Wish ours was £1.20 - our school charges £1.96 and they only get to pick one veg, out of a choice of 2, which i think is disgusting.
Needless to say, my children take packed lunches!!

They have 2 pieces of fruit, a box of raisins, a drink, a yoghurt (i freeze the tube ones and by lunch time they have defrosted and stay cool) and then they will have either a sandwich, wrap, sausage roll, cold pizza etc. On a Friday they get a packet of crisps, cos its chip day at school and for some reason i use that as an excuse for the crisps, no idea why!!! DS has just started year 7 (big school) and now takes 2 rounds of sandwiches, but i would still say that their lunches cost me no more than a pound each.