School dinners question

[Bouquetsofdynomite]

How do you pay for yours? Do you just send a cheque with the child's name on the back each week or cash in an envelope? Where do you get little teeny envelopes from?

[harrisey]

Our kids pay each day if they are having them. They dont every day, it depends on what they are serving (dd is fussy).
They ake lunch money in a little purse in their schoolbag (£1.15 perday) and its never beena problem.

[goingfor3]

We pay by check every half term.

[LilyLoo]

we pay by cheque each half term.

[haggisaggis]

We pay weekly by cheque - and our school provides red wallets - one per family. In that goes school newsletters, forms to be filled in and returned and the dinner money.
It's a good idea as things don't go missing too much.

[fireflyfairy2]

I don't use the teeny tiny envelopes, too much waste.

I put the £1.20 into dd's purse & she hands it to the teacher. Dinner has to be paid for on the day at our school. We can't pay for a week in advance or pay at the end of the month etc...

My dd has dinner 1 or 2 days a week.

[nailpolish]

dd has a little purse
i put the money and a note saying what money is for
dd knows to give this to the teacher each monday

[gscrym]

I use the teeny envelopes and decorate them with stickers for DS. The teacher takes the money first thing and gives them the money back before they go to the dinner hall. I would prefer if I could pay by cheque each term but I don't think our LEA does that.

[roisin]

We pay by cheque every half term.
The school provide envelopes where you fill in the child's name and class, and the number of dinners you are paying for.

If I haven't got one, I just write the information on a blank envelope.

[PestoMonster]

Our school won't accept cheques, more's the pity. We have to take money daily, which the children put into a labelled 'money pot'. In actual fact, they are old film canisters with a sticker on the front saying their name & class. The teacher collects the money pots in a tupperware box which is then taken to the office daily so the kitchen then knows how many school dinners are required.

[scorpio1]

mine has a wallet which goes into the dinner box in the room, then at dinner time they get their wallets and pay. Everyone pays daily, £1.96.

[NAB3]

Teeny envelopes from Asda or the school (in our case)
I send in money via a cheque every few weeks. He only has dinners once a week.

[Spidermama]

Wow! Such a disecrepancy in prices. Ours cost 1.75 per day and we send the money in little pots daily. This is a real pita as they lose the pots at least half of the time.

Why are some school dinners so much cheaper than others?

[NAB3]

Our school lunches have just gone up by 5p and are now £1.85 a day

[Bouquets]

Wow, big difference isn't it! I've not heard anything from the school about it, just got the term's menu, no prices anywhere.
I'd better ask the teacher if I've missed something as DD is staying for lunch next week (sloooooooow starting for summer babies at our school).

[NAB3]

Ours are mornings only until after Christmas. The first week bak is stay for lunch and come home at 1pm and then the second week they do full time.

[magnolia74]

I pay online usually in advance sometimes a week behind

[Clary]

ooh magnolia online is cool.

We pay half-termly by cheque x 3 £1.50 a day.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

Ours are £1.90 a day and have to be paid on a Monday for the week. However I asked and you can pay for the month but not the whole term.

Snack money is separate and each child has a purse/wallet in their trays and they can choose to buy a mid morning snack or not. DS has only been in reception for a few weeks but is starting to grasp how many coins he needs for a piece of toast and a drink or fruit.

I think the snack idea is great, no junk option just toast, fruit, oatcakes, porridge in winter (yuck).

Never realised starting school was so expensive lol

[sparkybabe]

My ds's can have hot dinners or take packed lunchs and the school charges £1.80 per day but we pay by cheque, daily, weekly or halftermly. They don't take cash (thank god - I know it would go missing)- I think it's more expensive for them to take cash. We can only pay on the morning for the same day if it's an emergency (ie no lunchbox) otherwise it's all in advance.

[portonovo]

Ours have to paid for in envelopes with the child's name and class no. written on the front. This is because the school has nothing to do with that money, it's all handled by the external caterers. We can either pay by cheque, made out to the caterers, or by cash but it has to be the exact amount. You can either pay on the day or for the whole week. I suppose you can pay for longer-term, but I don't know anyone who does.

Doesn't have to be tiny envelopes, any will do, but our school sells them, as does the cheapy Card Market shop in town.

[Theresa]

We pay weekly or monthly by cheque in advance and are given envelopes to complete and return with cheque or cash.The money goes onto their 'account'. When the child has lunch they go to the 'til and give their name, their photo comes up on screen to confirm they are that person and the days meal is debited from account. They'll have a packed lunch maybe once a fortnight, or go on a trip or be poorly (not once a fortnight!) so every now and then I ask the office for a statement. A TIP, i keep envelopes you get with your junk mail and use them for notes to teacher, trip money, etc

[Seasider]

We choose from a menu every three weeks and pay three weekly by cheque. We pay £2.10 per meal!! But it's a local firm and meant to be better than what the county was offering us, and they would have charged the same! Some of you are getting a much better price per meal. Wonder if the LEA is subsidising some meals more in some areas than others.