anyone else having problems with school dinners?

pingua

Our primary is fine but I too am thinking of 'investigating' the big school. Never enough left if you are the last class in that week. Also pizza everyday - including cold pizza to buy at break time?? everyday??
The 'menu' - not even sure there is one? consists of pizza, pizza, chips ,plain pasta and pizza??? Really wish they had what the primary had.

rosalie-lavender

Actually in the first post the OP said it has been happening for a few weeks and unless I have misunderstood the girl was refused a pudding if she didn't eat the pasta.

Bearing in mind money is tight I would go into school and have a chat. There is no need to make a big fuss but it may be something that can be sorted out with a bit of discussion. Then if nothing can be sorted it might have to be packed lunches but there is no harm in having a word with the teacher.

thatgirlsam

rosalie-lavender wrote: »

Actually in the first post the OP said it has been happening for a few weeks and unless I have misunderstood the girl was refused a pudding if she didn't eat the pasta.

Bearing in mind money is tight I would go into school and have a chat. There is no need to make a big fuss but it may be something that can be sorted out with a bit of discussion. Then if nothing can be sorted it might have to be packed lunches but there is no harm in having a word with the teacher.

she can't have been offered cheesy pasta every day though .. so unless the child is a very very fussy eater there must have been something she liked

if it was my child and they were coming home starving every day they would be having a packed lunch

scrap that they do! my kids are always ravenous after school and i know they do eat their dinners :rotfl:

onlyroz

Well somebody has to go last, and it's hardly surprising that the full choice isn't made available to them. As long as it's not the same class going last every day, I don't see the problem with this. And as for scampi - my kids love it. I'd also never cook a separate meal for the kids unless we were having a particularly hot curry (and even then I'd probably let them try it).

tw1nklestar

when i mentioned grab bags I did not mean it to read that it was an option only for those for those who get free school meals - they are available to all. There is also a salad bar available every day for those with grab a bags and hot school meals - selection is normally pasta, rice, hard boiled eggs, sweet corn alongside the normal salad options

meritaten

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

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?

but there is a problem - some posters have said that all thats left is peas!!! dont know about you but i dont call that a meal!
other posters have said there is no dessert available. how can this be?
I dont know about you but i would be annoyed if all i had for lunch was peas and even if i had mains no dessert would be awful. after all - its paid for!
I accept portion control is needed but not to the extent that latecomers or last in line only get a portion of veg!
unacceptable.
EVERY child should recieve a healthy meal!

LisaLou1982

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!

Completely agree with the above. I work within the community and see no end of people who feed their kids chips, chicken nuggets, pizza etc everyday as their children "dont like" vegetables, plain chicken, fish, meat etc. unless its on a burger.

Not for a second saying that the OP feeds her children junk......merely that many children say that they dont like things because they dont WANT to eat them. We all have things that we cant stand.....me personally, i cant stand Tuna. Never liked it and cant stand the smell either. However, i eat pretty much anything else.

I think its more a case of looking at what a child will eat as a matter of course, and sifting out those who only want to eat junk as thats all theyve been given since they were very small. When i was younger, i would eat what mum made for dinner. If i didnt like it then i went without. She wouldnt make me anything else. I was lucky - dad didnt like tuna either so never had to eat that As ive got older, i went through stages of vegetarianism, but now eat chicken and fish. Even now, if i go to mums for Sunday dinner and theyre having beef, she wont make me anything else unless theyre having 2 meats, in which case she will do chicken or turkey. Doesnt bother me - i eat all the pots, stuffing, yorkshires and veg and its plenty!

JodyBPM

meritaten wrote: »

but there is a problem - some posters have said that all thats left is peas!!! dont know about you but i dont call that a meal!
other posters have said there is no dessert available. how can this be?
I dont know about you but i would be annoyed if all i had for lunch was peas and even if i had mains no dessert would be awful. after all - its paid for!
I accept portion control is needed but not to the extent that latecomers or last in line only get a portion of veg!
unacceptable.
EVERY child should recieve a healthy meal!

Actually, if you read the OP again, it says (re the pea day!) that they were offered scampi and refused. So DS just had peas and an orange, and DD had peas and potatos. This suggests to me that a meal of scampi, potatoes, peas with a desset of an orange was available. A healthy meal imo. The fact that DS refused to eat anything other than peas and an orange and DD refused to eat anything other than peas and potatoes isn't the schools fault. A full, healthy meal was offered. The children declined to eat it.

ETA: Your last sentence of "EVERY child should receive a healthy meal" I would change to "EVERY child should be OFFERED a healthy meal". In this instance, I believe they were! and indeed in the cheesy pasta case, I think they were too!

lanavdt

Growing up, I was given two choices-eat it or don't. I eat almost everything lol. So do my brother and sister... I know a woman who had 3 son's similar ages to myself and my siblings and some nights she would cook a different meal for each of them plus one for herself and her husband. That carried on until the oldest left and so she's down to three different meals a night!

JBD

lanavdt wrote: »

Growing up, I was given two choices-eat it or don't. I eat almost everything lol. So do my brother and sister... I know a woman who had 3 son's similar ages to myself and my siblings and some nights she would cook a different meal for each of them plus one for herself and her husband. That carried on until the oldest left and so she's down to three different meals a night!

That was exactly the same choice when I was growing up. The difference was that I often didn't eat it. I don't cook different meals for my children but I do try and give my children food that I know they like and will eat. The simplest thing for the OP is just to provide them with a packed lunch so she can give them what they will eat [within healthy guidelines of course]. I understand that money is tight but she would be providing them with lunch during school holidays so why not during termtime?