anyone else having problems with school dinners?

Nicki

meritaten wrote: »

its not a thread about fussy eaters!!! its about the school running out of main options before all the children are served!

Actually its not. It's a thread about the school running out of CHOICES at the end of service, and the OP's children refusing to eat the only choice left. So the day the DS had the plate of peas was not because that was all there was left for him to eat, but because he would not eat the scampi and potatoes also available to him on that day.

I can't see how its possible without a huge amount of wastage for the school (or any other commercial catering organisation) to ensure there is a full choice for all children. Assuming there were 3 options on the menu, that would effectively mean preparing 3 times as much food as needed.

Isn't there a half way house possible here, where OP could look at the menus sent out in advance and let her children have the free school meals on the day when she knows that they will eat all of the possible options? If they genuinely aren't picky eaters and only dislike one or two things such as cheese bake and scampi, why would this not work?

rosalie-lavender

I am a lunchtime supervisor in a primary school and I think some of the comments on this thread are really out of order. I have very little idea which children in our school are entitled to free dinners, I could hazard a guess but that is all. As far as I am concerned all our children are entitled to the same treatment regardless of who has paid for their dinner. We try to send up different tables first every day so that the same children don't always go first or last. A vegetarian option is set aside for the children that are vegetarian. We are a relatively small school so there aren't that many of them but they are always guaranteed a full dinner the same as the others.

To the OP I would go and have a quiet word with the teacher and ask that they investigate what is happening and why your children are coming home hungry every day. Talk to other parents and find out if they have the same problem but be prepared for the possiblity that there could be other reasons for your child being hungry. We have one boy that has been caught throwing his dinner away twice this week!

In our school portions are supposed to be very tightly controlled but our cook does cook a bit extra so there is more choice but she has to be careful she doesn't over do it or the catering company will complain.

As for all the comments about the cheese pasta our school serves that and I wouldn't eat it either. It looks like sick and looks utterly revolting and we have a good cook so I dread to think what it looks like elsewhere. I am always surprised any of the kids eat it.

Scampi isn't something I have seen served but they do make fish nuggets and reaction to those is very mixed. No child is forced to eat just encouraged and I wouldn't force a child to eat even if it was school policy. I was forced to eat food I really didn't like when I was at school to the point I was practically sick. I am actually glad we have moved on from those days.

Spendless

mspig wrote: »

Why would you make you child someting for their meal at home that they don't like??

Because on week 1 the meal is eaten perfectly ok. On week 3 (the next time the same meal comes round) they aren't overly keen on it. On week 6 They hate it and always have since birth and on week 8 they 'just don't fancy it'.

If I actually took any notice of my DD who is the main culprit of trying the above she would be reduced to chicken nuggets and chips for every meal (to her great delight and actually what she is trying to manipulate for -too bad for her I can see thru it;))

To the OP- I worked for 6 months as a lunchtime assistant. What happened is different children (classes/years) took it in turns to be last sitting. If this has happened recently it may be that it's a consequence of her being on last sitting. If you are happy with the meals usually maybe you can see if you can work out the rota of when she'll be last in you could do packed lunches for then.

I'm a bit lost about some of your comments though- why is it nuts to serve scampi?

thatgirlsam

is anybody actually talking about forcing kids to eat meals they don't like?

my example with the spag bol.. dd is certainly not forced to eat it!

she either eats it or she doesn't, her choice but i don't make her a seperate meal.. she eats all the spaghetti and usually leaves most of the sauce, i wouldn't force her!

98sidney

My daughters school gave us achoice of menu that we could choose, but often found she was getting food we hadnt chosen..

My daughter has a packed lunch now that way I know she is getting a meal..

Oldernotwiser

meritaten wrote: »

its not a thread about fussy eaters!!! its about the school running out of main options before all the children are served!

Well, it is in a way. It's not as if there's nothing left (which would definitely be a cause for complaint) and not having a choice because all the other options are finished is pretty much the same thing as schools going back to one meal for everyone.

As long as there's a cooked meal left, I don't really see the problem. There's always going to be the situation where some options run out earlier or else there'd be an enormous amount of waste at the end of the day.

Perhaps the OP should discuss with the school the fact that her daughter's class always goes in last so the reduced choice could be revolved round the classes more fairly?

bylromarha

I'm shocked by the poster who said when they were at school free school meals went first in the queue, and about the other who said their school has grab bags for free school meals. Can't believe schools did/do this.

I had free school meals all through school and thankfully was never singled out in that way - at primary I clearly remember being part of a table of 8 where the yr 6 server divided up whatever was in the big grey tin that day and passed it round on plates - making sure they kept the biggest portion for themselves. In secondary, we had cards which we used to pay at the till.

I always wondered why there was a stigma about claiming school meals as in my experience, mum filled in a form and I was treated like everyone else. The school I worked at has a similar discreet system, the school I'm a governor of now has a similar discreet system. I would have hated being entitled to a grab bag or going to the front of the queue cos I had free meals.

rosalie-lavender

thatgirlsam wrote: »

is anybody actually talking about forcing kids to eat meals they don't like?

my example with the spag bol.. dd is certainly not forced to eat it!

she either eats it or she doesn't, her choice but i don't make her a seperate meal.. she eats all the spaghetti and usually leaves most of the sauce, i wouldn't force her!

Actually I am referring to school meals and in effect the OP's daughter was given the choice eat cheesy pasta and get pudding or get nothing. That is not far short of forcing her to eat something she really doesn't like.

At home that is the parents choice but at school it is a different matter. Someone has paid for the child to have a meal including a pudding and a child should not be left completely hungry because all the other choices have gone.

We don't allow seconds if there are any, if a decent amount of the main course hasn't been eaten and we encourage them to eat the main course first but if they really don't like it then we aren't going to refuse them a dessert.

Our school caterers send a menu home and it shows the choices of meals and desserts and the impression it gives is that all children have a choice and parents pay for the meals on that basis. The reality is different of course, I know a lot of parents who have stopped their children having school dinners after they have seen them for themselves.

thatgirlsam

rosalie-lavender wrote: »

Actually I am referring to school meals and in effect the OP's daughter was given the choice eat cheesy pasta and get pudding or get nothing. That is not far short of forcing her to eat something she really doesn't like.

At home that is the parents choice but at school it is a different matter. Someone has paid for the child to have a meal including a pudding and a child should not be left completely hungry because all the other choices have gone.

We don't allow seconds if there are any, if a decent amount of the main course hasn't been eaten and we encourage them to eat the main course first but if they really don't like it then we aren't going to refuse them a dessert.

Our school caterers send a menu home and it shows the choices of meals and desserts and the impression it gives is that all children have a choice and parents pay for the meals on that basis. The reality is different of course, I know a lot of parents who have stopped their children having school dinners after they have seen them for themselves.

i see what you are saying but she wasn't forced to eat it

i do think there should be a choice, as i said my dd didn't eat the main meal today , she had a cheese roll which i wasn't too chuffed about as i pay for her to have a dinner

if i was the OP i wouldn't be making a fuss about it unless it happened every day , the girl had a dinner offered but she didn't like it

the most sensible advice was from the poster who said have a look at the menu and decide wether to give your child a packed lunch on the days there is food they don't like

JodyBPM

I've got to say, that although some of the comments on this thread are unwarranted, what strikes me is that your DD was offered an acceptable meal (cheesy pasta) and the only issue is that she doesn't like it. I assume it was also served with veg, plus a pudding. Eating pots and veg plus a pudding isn't ideal, but she won't go hungry on that, and once in a while its no big deal.

In an ideal world, the system that some are describing, with dishes chosen in advance seems better. However, scampi and cheesy pasta (with veg) are perfectly acceptable meal choices, and I think its perfectly OK (special diets excluded) for those to be the only meal served. If it was a single choice menu, would you complain because your dd/ds didn't like the offering one day, even though it was a balanced meal? I regularly serve meals or parts of meals that one or other of my children don't like - the only option they have is eat it or don't eat it! I don't make another choice!

In both the situations you describe, your children were offered a healthy, balanced meal. They chose not to accept it, so whose fault is it if they were hungry?

ETA: I would have more of an issue if your child was genuinely being forced to eat something in order to get her pudding. But I would be careful to check that she was being FORCED (unreasonable) rather than ENCOURAGED (responsible). But I still don't think that a second choice should need to be provided for fussy eaters, as long as there is veg and pots, and fruit etc for pud if the main pud has gone.