School Dinner Ladies

pigpen

TeresaO wrote: »

When someone comes up with a harmonius canteen where there's no waste, give me a shout, I'll work there. Until then I plod on cajoing, encouraging, coaxing,persuading the children in my care to eat something at lunch time.

T

Ps don't get me started on drinks.

One child at our school turned up with a packet of bourbons on more then 1 occasion or he would have several chocolate bars and no real food!!

Doing those things is what we appreciate though.. what we don't appreciate (other than them being allowed out with no coats when it is freezing) is when the child falls and is told to 'shut up being silly and go get it cleaned up' or in dulcet tones remeniscent of a harpie 'just get over there so I don't have to look at you' or 'get out of my face/go away and play/stay away from them' when they are in distress and coming for help .. yes some children are whinier than others but if they need help with a situation they need help.. some of these people haven't a kind or caring bone in their body!

There are lots of very nice people working in schools at lunchtimes but sadly there are a few evil ones too!

maman

TeresaO wrote: »

Hi,
sorry a bit of an epic. please don't shoot me, but I'm a dinner lady, well lunch supervisor actually. I help supervise school dinner children and packed lunch children.

It's my job to encourage the children to eat some or all of their lunch, at least to try it.

School dinners can be a bit hit and miss, you need to read the menus issued by the provider. Some of the meals are great, others aren't, but that's a whole thread in itself. You also have to remember peer pressure, if A doesn't like cottage pie then B,C, and D follow suit and won't have it, but thats not what they tell their parents. We do our best to make sure that everyone has eaten something, believe me that's not as easy as it sounds.

Packed lunches, You would be amazed at the numbers of children with packed lunch that claim they don't like this or that in their lunch box.
You get children with too much food, not enough/inappropriate food, children who try swapping with their mates or just plain drop it on the floor or try and bin it.

Dinner supervisors get the short stick, our ratio is higher, the children are hungry, needing to get out and wanting to spend time with their friends, and they take it out on us. No we're not teachers, but we still deserve respect and not be shouted at, hit or ignored.
Oh and yes often information isn't passed onto us, but that's just down to poor management.

When someone comes up with a harmonius canteen where there's no waste, give me a shout, I'll work there. Until then I plod on cajoing, encouraging, coaxing,persuading the children in my care to eat something at lunch time.

T

Ps don't get me started on drinks.

Well done for speaking up for lunchtime supervisors Teresa.

My take on all this is that schools are trying their best to treat children as they believe a reasonable parent would. So to choose something from the advertised menu and having chosen it to sit at a table, behave sensibly and actually eat it. With the lunchboxes it's not really for schools to question what the parent has included but to trust that the parent has provided a meal they believe is good for the child and that the quantity and variety is what the child will eat. Surely no parent would pay for a meal they knew their child didn't like? or put stuff in a lunchbox they knew was too much or a load of carp?

If parents care so much and are so disapproving of school meals and the quality of supervision why don't they take their children home at lunchtime? It may not be possible for all (due to transport difficulties in rural areas for example) but, certainly at primary level, what with unemployment and shift work and SAHMs etc. etc. there must be loads who could.

Treevo

Give the Head a letter (and a copy to the governors) regarding your child's nutritionally-balanced, specialist diet, warning them that should they interfere with your child's diet and health that you will have no option but to take the matter further. It won't work if you include crisps and junk food in their lunchbox however and they're the size of a small car, but if you have a healthy child then the diet will be respected. Even if you include home-made treats.

*max*

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Generally speaking, because of the culture (we don't have lunch, rather breakfast first thing in the morning, a "second breakfast" that would be similar to your packed lunches and then dinner eaten at home) - it's impossible to compare with hot food offerings as not every school will even have the facility to offer it.

But no-one in schools would care about what children bring to school to eat. One important cultural difference could be that fresh fruit and vegetables are much cheaper to buy than processed rubbish, however - and there isn't anywhere near the same obesity problem.

I'm more surprised that these "dinner ladies" wield so much power despite it being a job that doesn't require any particular skills or knowledge. As someone says above, it's unlikely that they have any knowledge of nutrition - so why would anyone obey their decisions?

A question : how common is it for private companies to operate school kitchens, and does this lead to problems?

French here. To be honest, all those "what is my child having for lunch" discussions I just can't understand. In my time anyway (I was a child in the 80's), you'd eat in the "cantine" (school meals). If you didn't like it, you didn't eat it. You could have an extra bread roll, but that's it - no substitution. If you didn't want the bread, you'd go hungry till 4 or 5pm, when you'd go home and have your "gouter", generally hot chocolate with bread, or cereals.

Dinner's around 7/8.

I've never understood the custom of having "tea" (dinner) at 5pm. I'd be starving come 8!

*max*

Edit: we didn't go hungry if we didn't eat the main meal. In my school, we always had 3 courses. I went through 6 different schools from aged 2 to 17, and each and every one had its own menu with 3 courses and at least 2 choices for your mains.

That was public school, btw. As in regular, no-fee school.

Molly41

Does OP live in Poland or does he live in England?

fluffnutter

maman wrote: »

If parents care so much and are so disapproving of school meals and the quality of supervision why don't they take their children home at lunchtime? It may not be possible for all (due to transport difficulties in rural areas for example) but, certainly at primary level, what with unemployment and shift work and SAHMs etc. etc. there must be loads who could.

Because that would involve a bit of effort and planning and it's far easier and more self-satisfying to simply whine and chunter about every other influence in your child's life.

fluffnutter

pigpen wrote: »

There are lots of very nice people [STRIKE]working in schools at lunchtimes[/STRIKE] but sadly there are a few evil ones too!

That's just life isn't it? School dinner ladies are just going to be a representation of society, same as every profession.

ValHaller

Own_My_Own wrote: »

You would be amazed how many children have crisps everyday.

An unhealthy lunchbox is defined at least as much by what is NOT in the box as what is in it.

pigpen

fluffnutter wrote: »

That's just life isn't it? School dinner ladies are just going to be a representation of society, same as every profession.

Yes but if you dislike children it kind of figures you wouldn't work in a school there tend to be a few children there! I don't like dogs so wouldn't work for RSPCA or be a vet..