anyone else having problems with school dinners?

newcook

Good grief!!! I remember when school dinners were usually pie or sausages with mash or chips and beans or veg (Im 29 now). Most of us kids loved the school dinners. If anyone had a specific dietary need (rather than I don’t like it) they went to the front of the queue. There were always leftovers, or seconds as we called them but you could only have more if everyone had been fed and you had eaten what was on your plate. You could not leave the dinner table until you had eaten it all (many times I sat in the dinner hall alone because I didn’t like something!)

Mind you, that was also when the school cooks actually cooked rather than re-heating!!

These days there is too much choice – with parents being happy to cook different meals in the evening its no wonder the children feel its their right to have the school cater for their likes and dislikes. Years ago if you were a fussy eater you took sarnies!

Swampmonster

Free school meals are paid for by the local authority to the company supplying the school dinners and would be the best people to turn to if you are having a problem with them going hungry due to lack of available food. If there is a working kitchen in the school this should NEVER happen. The local authority would be very keen to know where there money is going if it is not on your childs food.

If the school has food delivered to them in a thermal hot box ( i used to do this) the numbers of dinners to be served are provided by the school and that amount should be delivered. There were always a few spare (2-3) but I had increasing problems with teachers wanting dinners and the headteacher getting awkward if I didn't and also kids who forgot there lunchbox. To supply any more spare than that leads to excess waste and would in the end cause the price of the school dinners to go up.

You should be aware however there are guidelines which say how many fish, meat etc options should be offered which would explain the scampi.
This was introduced after the Jamie Oliver school dinners campaign and at the end of the day has the childrens best health/nutritional interests at heart.

Best of luck!

Swampmonster

sharpee

I know school kitchen budgets are tight but school dinners are hardley cheap. My step-son's are £2 a day, I pay much less for my cooked lunch in my work canteen.

I think it is disgraceful to not have enough food for all the kids having school lunches (whether they ahve paid for them or not) they are all entitled to a meal.

Imagine those poor kids sitting through a whole afternoon of school hungry with their tummy's rumbling - its going to affect their concentration and behaviour.

I think pack lunches sound the best solution as at least then you know your providing food your child likes, know exactly waht they have eaten and will ease your concious.

But saying that there has been threads on here whare kids have had totally acceptable healthy food confiscated from them by the lunch monitors because they don't think the child shoud be eating it.

Its a mine field out there am not looking forward to having kids of my own and all the politics of school.

Scone_2

Ok just a bit of clarification here

Thanks so much for all your different viewpoints and even those of you i disagree with I can see your points and they are valid

The cheesy pasta was a "last straw" for me. I wasn't making a fuss so much about the cheesy pasta as I was about the fact this has been happening for WEEKS. In fact I've just checked back on my diary last night and its been happening for almost two months on and off.

My point is the school is running out of food frequently - if a child does not like something, say cheesey pasta or scampi and theres not so much as a sandwich or a baked potato on offer then I don't think thats fair on the child. My daughter complained about the cheesy pasta and asked for something else. She was told there was nothing else - she said she couldn't eat it and the "dinner lady" told her if she didn't eat it she wouldn't get pudding

So, effectively she was forced to eat something she didn't like for fear of being hungry all afternoon which I don't think is very fair

When I was walking her home from school yesterday afternoon she was so distressed she was crying, holding her stomach and wretching. When I got her home I gave her a cup of tea but she couldnt eat anything for the rest of the evening which was heart breaking.

I went in to see the head this morning and vented my concerns and advised her they were now on packed lunches. I went to the trouble of describing how other schools catering systems work and asked her if she could investigate and consider reviewing the existing system. Her reply was flippant and non commital - but then I guess that's only to be expected from a headteacher who's school has recently been condemned to special measures by ofsted. But I guess thats another subject in itself!

Maybe I should just move the kids to a more positive and caring school in september.

Scone_2

ps - my comment about scampi - the reasons I said i think its ridiculous for a school to serve scampi to children are

1. its expensive - why not opt for a cheaper alternative?
2. not many kids like it
3. if fried its not very healthy

its just like serving liver and bacon or sardines to children - on the whole the majority of them just don't like it!

JodyBPM

My point is the school is running out of food frequently - if a child does not like something, say cheesey pasta or scampi and theres not so much as a sandwich or a baked potato on offer then I don't think thats fair on the child. My daughter complained about the cheesy pasta and asked for something else. She was told there was nothing else

On this point, I'm afraid I have to agree to disagree with you. I think it is perfectly acceptable to only have one choice. The school can't cater for picky eaters! You daughter had a perfectly healthy meal, and chose not to eat if. She would have had veg and pots available too. So she could have had veg and pots, just not the cheesy pasta. Not the best meal, but her choice if she is too fussy to eat cheesy pasta (or scampi).

- she said she couldn't eat it and the "dinner lady" told her if she didn't eat it she wouldn't get pudding

So, effectively she was forced to eat something she didn't like for fear of being hungry all afternoon which I don't think is very fair

This I do agree with you on - I don't think she should have been forced to eat anything, and I certainly don't think her pudding should have been held back if she refused.

I'm glad you have come to a decision that best suits you and your children. I would, however, look carefully at exactly how fussy your children are, and what you can do to encourage them to eat more variety. I would expect most children to eat EVERYTHING bar one or two things. For eg my dd doesn't like sweetcorn or blueberries, my ds doesn't like mushrooms or raw tomato. They eat EVERYTHING else though. If you can count to a dozen or so more things that your child doesn't like, then I think that points to an abnormally fussy eater, and this needs to be addressed.

I don't think that the headmistress should be changing the school meal system to accomodate exceptionally fussy eaters, after all there is always the option for packed lunches, and the system you have described would work for almost all children without a problem.

JodyBPM

Scone wrote: »

ps - my comment about scampi - the reasons I said i think its ridiculous for a school to serve scampi to children are

1. its expensive - why not opt for a cheaper alternative?
2. not many kids like it
3. if fried its not very healthy

its just like serving liver and bacon or sardines to children - on the whole the majority of them just don't like it!

Both my children (4 and 5) LOVE scampi! I've not yet met a child yet who doesn't like it - it tastes pretty similar to fish fingers, a children's favourite. The scampi I serve is oven baked, not fried, and not exceptionally expensive. I would (and have) served liver and bacon or sardines to children - why on earth not?

sock-knitter

both my sons love scampi, as others have said its almost like fish fingers, i oven bake it too, as do my sons schools
liver is loved by only one of my sons, tho the other used to eat it, til his mates stopped eating it, peer pressure. they eat sardines too, why wouldnt they?
sk

Scone_2

Some good points


My kids won't eat scampi or sardines, and they won't even try liver. Someone want to swap kids? (joke)

But seriously, I do NOT consider them overly fussy

The boy will TRY pretty much anything and usually he likes it. He does not like chips or cold chicken, which I can live with. He's never been given scampi because its expensive therefore I don't buy it in. That was a new one on me. He eats all kinds of curries and varied food and loves his grub,

The girl is a little bit more hard work. She takes a lot of encouragement to try something new, she had never had scampi, but I can count on one hand the food she does not like. All types of Cheese, liver, sweetcorn and kidney beans. Everything else she will eat.

I asked yesterday if there was a vegetable accompaniment with the cheesy pasta. They both said no - the veg - peppers onions and sweetcorn were in the pasta. So not only did she have to endure cheese there was bloomin sweetcorn in it too.

I think children SHOULD have a choice what they are given for their school dinners. making decisions is part of learning to be an adult. Not everybody can be expected to like everything - and I don't believe anyone should be given the "if you don't like it lump it" ultimatum. Why should they like it or lump it? How would we feel as adults if the food choice was taken away from us? hospitals, nursing homes and employees canteens all have a choice so why shouldn't our children?

I have asked the school to review the system and I think I have some valid points. I was not aware that other schools allowed children and parents to select in advance what their child would eat. The school my children attend do not even make parents aware what is served up in the school canteen for the kids. In hindsight and after reading what the "good schools" on this thread do for other kids I think thats wrong.

I'm going to speak to other parents this afternoon when I pick them up and get their experiences. I'm sure I won't be the only one with hungry kids at hometime.

Spendless

Isn't the problem that there is' no choice 'by the time they get to the counter' rather than there is no choice. You need to address why. The school will be running to a budget so there won't be choice for every single child that comes thru (depending on how popular a dish is). Is it that they are not ordering/making enough of 1 dish? Is it a problem due to the way your children are being called to their meal (eg are they always in last and what's the reason for this).