school dinners

Carmina_Piranha_3

our school ticks off children by name so you couldn't sneak into the queue easily. does yours?

sticher

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

our school ticks off children by name so you couldn't sneak into the queue easily. does yours?

We also tick off the hot dinners by name in our school as they come into the lunch hall, but that wouldn't stop someone who had said they were packed lunch in the morning going up for a hot dinner. We simply cannot watch every single child collect their packed lunch/queue for their hot dinner every day.

Also, in our school, the cook has to cook a few extra meals each day in case there are children who need a hot dinner but haven't booked one (happens for various reasons).

Another point mentioned was that the dinner ladies would know who has hot dinner/packed lunch - our children can have a different choice each day, so you wouldn't even know from that.

I think the only way you will find out what has happened is to ask the school dinner ladies or the head and speak to your daughter with them. It might even be that your daughter wants hot dinners but doesn't like to tell you? Who knows.

Carmina_Piranha_3

ah, we actually have a member of staff ticking off people as they line up and supervising behaviour in the line so they do watch every child queue for their hot dinner (sandwiches go through a different door). maybe that's why our dinners are more expensive than the OP's, we pay an extra 15p per day to cover the staff involved in policing the queue.

susy_2

What really bothers me about this is the bullying and blackmailing attitude of the school to both you and your daughter. Isn't this what schools are supposed to be eradicating?

Your daughter may or may not have had some school meals. Is this really important enough to punish her by refusing her entry to the after school club?

Having discovered that there may be a problem, I think the school should have approached you about it in case there are underlying reasons, however, as you have clearly demonstrated that she is on packed lunches, I think they should put the cost of this down to experience and just monitor the situation, until they are happy that she is eating her packed lunch.

I have long suspected that some schools and many teachers (although not all, by any means) are little hitlers and power crazed.

carolpinkdreamer

Hello,

I was just wondering how this situation had been resolved?
Did you take it any further, or cough up for a quiet life?

Bunnyinthelights

I was wondering this as well...
Any news?
Bunny

prettypennies

I had a similar problem with my twins who are 8. I had sent them money for school dinners up to xmas last year then switched them to packed lunch in Jan. I always used to send the money in on a Monday in an envelope marked with their name the date and the amount enclosed.

At the end of Feb (last day of term!) I got a letter saying I owed £10 for unpaid dinners.

I went in to see the school secretary of the first day back to explain that they had not been on dinners since before Christmas. She checked the book and said that according to the kitchen's record I had only paid £2.50 instead of £12.50 on Dec 10th!

I asked why they had left it so long to point this out and explained that I had always sent £12.50 in and wrote the amount on the envelope so that if any had gone astray before the children handed it in they would know.

She said she didn't know why they had left it so long and that really I needed to speak to the kitchen staff.

I wrote a letter to the kitchen staff explaining that I didn't believe I owed anything and could they re-check their records.

A few days later I got a phone call from the kitchen apologising. Apparently all the envelopes were saved and when she checked back through them there was still £10.00 in my envelope from Dec 10th!!!

My sister also once got a bill for £5.00 for her daughter who has never once had a school dinner.

If your daughter says she has not had a dinner, the chances are the school has messed up their records (working in a schoool I know how chaotic lunchtimes can be). If your convinced refuse to pay.

TBH even if she had eaten a school dinner on the odd occasion, they should have noticed and told you straight away as you said it is the teaching assistant and lunchtime supervisor's duty to be aware of what children are eating or indeed if they are not eating.

comping_cat

I think this sounds dreadfull. How can a school bill you for meals they may or may not have given your daughter!!! And seeing that your DD is only 6, its hardly something she can be blamed for, especially as the school have her down for packed lunch - i wouldve thought if this has been a regular thing, they should have queried it with you a long time before now.
I hope you get on ok seeing the headteacher.

rachnbri

My boys both have school dinners. A few weeks ago my littlest came home from school absolutely starving and adamant that he had had no lunch. I thought this sounded a little odd but upon questioning it turned out that all of the children in his class who have school dinners had missed out. Because they are on a small site they have different sittings for lunch and they are called in from the playground class by class to eat. Apparently the dinner lady had forgotten to call his class in so none of them had lunch that day!!!!