School Dinner Charges - How are you coping with lunch charges?

NewCustomerOnly

fluffnutter wrote: »

Value for money is an issue, of course. Since the last Tory government decided to outsource the supply of meals away from the LEAs to private companies, we've been paying to line their pockets with profit ever since. It's important therefore that the money parents pay is actually to provide a decent meal and not simply to make money for whichever company is selling the meals.

But... at the end of the day, good quality food costs money. I don't begrudge paying an honest price for well-cooked, decent food. It's a fact of life... your kids cost money. If you failed to get that memo, you shouldn't have had kids.

Sorry but that's out of reach to many of the mums round here,true or not. If on a Friday or Thurs food money has run out - they keep little Johnny at home cos a t least then he can have beans on toast - or cereal for lunch! And the terrible thing is - these Mums are actually working!! on low pay, mainly couple part time jobs. Actually, I admire them and my heart goes out to . Definitely not 'all in this together' Wonder what Dave and Sam's kids have for luncheon?

NBirdy

My daughter is in Primary school and her school have hot lunches brought in, then served up by their own dinner lady (who is fab, remembers all the kids; which ones like gravy, which will eat a larger portion etc) and they have unlimited bread to go with it, which is useful for DD as she doesn't like potatoes!

Hot lunches cost £2.25 so more expensive than some on here, but they have 3 choices per day, which we have to choose and book a week in advance. DD only has a hot lunch once or twice per week as she is quite fussy so it's cheaper/easier to send her with a pack-up, unless the hot meal is something I know for sure she'll eat.

The food seems lovely, there's a 'tasting session' at the start of each September term when kids and parents can come in at pick-up time and try lots of the different foods from the menu. From the times I've helped out at lunchtimes the portion sizes seem fine too, so I'm quite happy to pay for a couple of days per week.

Violetta_2

NewCustomerOnly wrote: »

Sorry but that's out of reach to many of the mums round here,true or not. If on a Friday or Thurs food money has run out - they keep little Johnny at home cos a t least then he can have beans on toast - or cereal for lunch! And the terrible thing is - these Mums are actually working!! on low pay, mainly couple part time jobs. Actually, I admire them and my heart goes out to . Definitely not 'all in this together' Wonder what Dave and Sam's kids have for luncheon?

If people are that low paid their kid's can get free school meals , the income limit is £16190 (it's lower in Scotland though £15190 I think) so they would be better sending their children to school for a meal rather than a bowl of cereal, do they keep them off for the whole day or just bring them home for lunch? Bit worried that you are saying they keep the child home all day but I'm probably misunderstanding.

balletshoes

NewCustomerOnly wrote: »

Sorry but that's out of reach to many of the mums round here,true or not. If on a Friday or Thurs food money has run out - they keep little Johnny at home cos a t least then he can have beans on toast - or cereal for lunch! And the terrible thing is - these Mums are actually working!! on low pay, mainly couple part time jobs. Actually, I admire them and my heart goes out to . Definitely not 'all in this together' Wonder what Dave and Sam's kids have for luncheon?

at my DD's school you can only pay for school dinners on a Monday, for the week, no matter how many school dinners your child is having that week (so for example if she's having school dinners on Monday and Thursday you pay for the 2 days on Monday only). So I don't really see how the situation you describe could happen, solely because by Thursday or Friday theres no money for school dinners? I mean they'd already be paid for by then?

I don't live in an affluent area, we live on an ex-council housing estate on the edge of a city, and I don't know anyone who keeps their children home because they can't send them to school with something to eat/pay for their school dinners. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I really don't think thats a common situation, is it?

janninew

Violetta wrote: »

If people are that low paid their kid's can get free school meals , the income limit is £16190 (it's lower in Scotland though £15190 I think) so they would be better sending their children to school for a meal rather than a bowl of cereal, do they keep them off for the whole day or just bring them home for lunch? Bit worried that you are saying they keep the child home all day but I'm probably misunderstanding.

Agree with this, children should not be kept of school because their parents run out of money to buy food! All parents in this Country are given a certain amount of money in benefits (if entitled of course) to ensure a reasonable standard of living and that includes feeding your child. It sounds like these parents either have debt or aren't very good at managing their money. If parents are on low incomes, surely they are entitled to and claiming child tax credit?

Spendless

My guess is the issue with low paid unable to afford school lunch money is that they are entitled to working tax credit

Free school lunches

Parents do not have to pay for school lunches if they receive any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
• Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

At my son's Secondary school he can pay daily if he wishes to. Not heard of it at Primary level though.

themull1

Violetta wrote: »

If people are that low paid their kid's can get free school meals , the income limit is £16190 (it's lower in Scotland though £15190 I think) so they would be better sending their children to school for a meal rather than a bowl of cereal, do they keep them off for the whole day or just bring them home for lunch? Bit worried that you are saying they keep the child home all day but I'm probably misunderstanding.

Only free if they don't get working tax credits and are on certain benefits, i was on less than that, but because i got a small amount of working tax i wasnt entitled to free school dinners. My kids have packed lunch, usually sarnie or pasta.

cobbingstones

I had to stop school dinners due to them now costing £2.10 per child. Both of my children are in primary school and alsways came back home starving!!!

ALI1973

At the girls primary, it is £2.10, and we order the week before, however, the portion sizes are small, and although the say they can have as much veg/fruit/bread as they like, they do not encourage them to do so (items are difficult to get to as they have to cross the serving queue to get to it, and then get told off).

The food itself is ok, fairly bland, and the usual pre frozen stuff, although I understand that the kitchen can opt out of this and prepare their own within a set budget, as this is what the school I work for do.

The secondary where I work has an excellent menu and all the food is cooked fresh daily, the cost is the same as the primary, but the choice and amount is far superior.

I would like to see schools go back to a sit down with the teacher at the head of the table to demonstrate table manners, with proper plates and not those plastic tray things. I would happily pay a bit more for this as I think it would help those children who aren't able to learn this at home.

balletshoes

ALI1973 wrote: »

I would like to see schools go back to a sit down with the teacher at the head of the table to demonstrate table manners, with proper plates and not those plastic tray things. I would happily pay a bit more for this as I think it would help those children who aren't able to learn this at home.

we didn't ever have teachers at the head of the table when I was at primary school, but we did have "family" tables, you were assigned your seat and the 2 oldest children at each table were in charge. Thats also what used to happen at my DD's school until very recently, and the queue system they use now is not an improvement as far as I can see.