School lunches

cat4772

DD started school (reception) in September and takes a packed lunch (sandwich, bun/piece of cake, bread sticks, cucumber, carrot sticks, lump of cheese, yoghurt and some fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes etc) - think monkey platter with a little bit of lots of things (http://www.wileyvalentine.com/blog/2011/11/21/mom-monday-toddler-lunch-idea/).

But now she wants to have a school lunch instead.

Over the week, I probably spend around £7 on her lunches (husband and I take lunches to work so some fruit / veg we use for all but averaged out I spend about £7 on her lunches).

School dinners are £2 per day or £10 a week. So not much difference there each week. But she brings home what see doesn't eat so I can keep tabs on like/ dislike trends vs, one off lack of appetite.

How do other parents find school meals? Do primary schools let you know if your child does not eat? is there a wide range of food options provided for children?

Am I worrying about nothing?

Cat.xx

LEJC

I think the quality of meals does vary from school to school...but on the whole its iof a good standard


I would suggest that if your child wants to have a go at the meals...then let her theres probably lots of food choices rhat shes seeing that seem a better bet to her than the lunch that shes currently taking.
Do your school provide details of the menu...ours used to on a website so we could see what they were getting....if not perhaps you could ask to see what they typically offer and what the portion sizes are.
IMO school dinners were a blessing but then again I wasnt very good at thinking up new healthy combinations for the packed lunches.

MadDogWoman_2

At my daughters school, the menu is posted in a window, it cycles through a 4 week pattern, with 2 choices of main served with veggies and a drink.

She also gets a piece of fruit/vegetable in the afternoon.

Fridays are the treat days.

AnnieO1234

You need to do some research into your LEA and find out more about the budgets etc. This will have a HUGE bearing on what might be served. Some schools for example only serve halal meat - I know that might not be an issue for some but it is for others.

An awful lot of school meals are low budget, cooked off site even today after Jamie's crusade. If the school has sittings, then it might be the weeks she is in last sitting she'll end up with very little choice. I also have never heard of a school particularly getting involved if the kids don't eat.

Xx

susancs

You can usually get a copy of the daily menu from the school. My children are now at secondary school but they have a six week rolling choice menu that we filled out at home each half term. My children had a mix of packed lunches and school dinners. The choices were for a meat, veg or sandwich option. They had a choice of salads or veg, pudding and fruit. Wednesday was roast day and Friday fun lunches were things like Pizza, baked wedges and salad, homemade burger in a roll with vegetables.

It may be that a lot her friends have school dinners and that she likes what they are having, so worth trialling them. I used to like the hot meal for winter in particular for my children.

When my eldest first tried school dinners I asked the class teacher if she could obtain feedback from the lunchtime staff on how much she ate and I was given theis feedback for the first few days.

KateBob

Have you checked your local council websites, ours posts the school meal menus for schools where they control the kitchen.

Otherwise most schools either send a copy of the school meal home or put them on their website.

Does child's school allow them to mix and match days, ie 1 day sandwiches, 2 days dinners and 2 days sandwiches. Some do and some don't which can be a problem if you have a fussy eater.

marisco_2

At the school where I work the children have 5 options for their school dinners daily. A main course which is meat or fish based, a vegetarian option, jacket potato with various fillings, a pasta dish or a sandwich with side salad. They advise the teacher what they would like when registration is taken and then orders are sent through to the kitchens so as the right amount of meals are available. In addition to the above each child can have a drink of milk, some bread and a choice between three different puddings.

In answer to how a childs intake is monitored we have a team of midday supervisors there to help and assist the children, but also to make sure they are taking all they are entitled to and not leaving too much of it. If a child is being faddy with their eating their techer is informed and the parents advised.

We have a prepayment system so as the children dont have to be responsible for carrying cash in purses if they dont want to. Many schools have signed up to this scheme.

ilikewatch

I must admit that when I visited my wifes school recently I was very impressed by the food that was being served at lunch - all the catering is done by the local pub who have an outstanding reputation.

I wasn't so impressed by children as old as 6-7 who are unable to use cutlery and were just shovelling mash, peas and gravy in with their hands

fivetide

Aside from the nutrition aspect have you asked why she wants to change?

It maybe all her close friends have school lunches so she feels a bit left out. At my school the packed lunch pupils ate seperately to those having a school meal and the same is true today at my son's school.

Counting_Pennies_2

How about you work out a couple of days a week that it would be advantageous for her to have a cooked meal at school.


Then look at the menu, often set for the term ahead. There are often different choices of food on offer, and often in my children's school there are days where everything is cooked and served in a sauce, so there is no way they would eat that meal, as they like all their food separate.


Perhaps having this compromise from the beginning will help see how hungry she is at the beginning, to ascertain how much she is eating.


I think it is good that she will be exposed to meals she would not normally have eaten. I should have put mine in to meals from the start of school and they might be better eaters now!

ilikewatch

I think that having school lunches can be an excellent way of stopping children being fussy with their food. I know that at my wifes school parents often say their little darlings don't like certain things, but lo and behold, once they're sitting down and all their friends are having the same thing they quite happily eat it.

At the end of the day plenty of parents let their children dictate what they eat at home just to get an easy life, so it does no harm if they get a more varied diet at school.