Parents complaining about this in school?

Yet another reason teachers are leaving in droves. (Inane parent complaints) It is not school responsibility to get a child to eat. That is parents. It is a schools responsibility to EDUCATE. We can ask a child if they’d like to eat more and if they say no that’s it. Let schools teach your children to read and write. Parents have got to start stepping up these days!!

This. I give up.

You sound fun at parties!

When DD first started school she was a very slow eater and hardly ate any lunch because her friends would finish before her and go out to play, so she would go with them. Also the school hall wasn't big enough so the children only had 20 minutes to eat before the next sitting for the rest of the school.

I was grateful that the school let me know she hardly ate anything, so I started giving her packed lunches instead. They often came back barely touched as well.

I wouldn't like for my dc to have to wait for slow eaters to finish up during their lunch break and miss out on fun play with friends.

Schools can't win on this one. Though less of an issue if they get a good cook.

Hope the OP does not drive their child/children to school given that they started this thread at a time when good sleep should be a priority.

Many Primary schools have to operate a rota as not room in the hall for all children. Many of them will be on minimum level of staffing due to budgets. Gentle persuasion and monitoring of children who don’t seem to be eating anything is good, DS’s school operated a system of having to ask if you could eat your pudding but no-one was made to eat all their main, but might get a ‘you sure you don’t want anymore peas’ etc.

But the whole operation of children in and out and having enough staff in the hall and enough staff in the playground is quite a juggling act on no money!

How little are the children? I think it’s worth reminding them generally as frankly most children I know prefer playing to eating. Teaching a room full of hangry little ones sounds like a miserable way to spend an afternoon.

My child's school now has an enforced 25 minute sitting period. No one leaves until then. It's to address the issue of slow eaters being left or discouraged from eating. However it is imperfect and if you get served last you have to bolt your food anyway.

I can’t vouch for the current situation, but when I was young enough to eat in a cafeteria, my school hired a “cafeteria monitor,” a woman specifically to watch over us while we ate.
The food was nauseating, so I took my lunch every day, but we still had to sit by classroom at long tables.
We weren’t allowed to talk. I mean, she demanded complete and total silence.
We were, in my cafeteria group, 9 to 11 years old. It was a small school in a small town, but I remember the cafeteria being full.
We weren’t happy kids, though.
We were terrified of the lunch lady.
The lunch lady terrorized a bunch of little kids.
She demanded that kids eat everything — every last gross thing on the tray, and if they didn’t, she’d berate and single them out.
And she’d scream — no lie. She’d literally scream at us.
And if one child didn’t finish his lunch, we’d all have to sit there the entire lunch period. No exercise, no fun, just her screaming and yelling and berating that kid - or kids.
It was verbal abuse and harassment and the people who should’ve done something about it, did nothing. She lasted that entire school year.
So yeah - this shit happens and it’s traumatizing to little kids.
I STILL remember the outfits she wore and the brooches she wore on her lapels and she never even singled me out.
I didn’t have a tray, I had a lunchbox.
And I imagine her tactics were the same as the ones her country used in WWII to torture their British and American and Allied POWs.
She truly was that awful.
Sheezus that was almost 60 years ago.

Exactly, it's not fair on any of them

Yes. Our school did this and soon gave it up. No one benefitted from it.

This can also be problematic. One of mine was a slow eater. When the school introduced a policy that they couldn't leave until everyone on the table had finished their food (they also adopted the empty plate policy) suddenly my child was deeply unpopular to be sat with on a table because the other children didn't want to wait for my child to wade through their lunch.

My DM was traumatised by nuns forcing her to eat diced beetroot that had leaked pink juice int o the lumpy mashed potato. Doing God’s work apparently.

At the school I work at, the chn are encouraged to eat. Some chn want to leave most of their lunch and obviously that’s not good so the staff would say can you eat this bit and some of that etc. We have parents that complain if they don’t eat enough and parents that complain if you try to get them o eat more. You can’t win, you just have to do what you think is reasonable.

I think there need to be a middle ground. I like what a PP said about a fixed time they are staying in but not making them to finish their food. Often it will lead to eating more. It also teaches social interaction during meals.

But definitely no control, if an adult says that they are finished eating, nobody will tell them to clear their plate or "just one more bite", we expect them to know what they want to eat. Children are actually more intune than conditioned adults.

And defintiely no "clear your plate before dessert".

Parents are asking teachers/ midday assistants to do an impossible job there.

children aren’t going to come to any harm missing one meal as long as they are catered for appropriately when they are at home.

Primary or secondary? Big difference.

Children should be trusted to eat as little or as much food as they need. Forcing kids to eat or not eat is how eating disorders and food aversions are created. Adults should be responsible for providing healthy, tasty foods and kids should be responsible for deciding which of these they eat and how much. They don't need the food police glowering down at them demanding they eat another forkful of broccoli. It's counterproductive.

Both of my kids weren't eating their lunch properly when they had school dinners. They were ravenous when they got in. I asked them whether they had eaten their lunch but didn't get much of a response (aged 5) so asked school if a lunch monitor could keep an eye out and let me know how they got on over a course of a week. Dd1 would eat a few bites whereas ds was just eating his fruit or dessert then rushing out to play. For dd1 she just found the food bland which of course it was compared to the food I cook whereas ds just wanted to play. I spoke to both, switched to packed lunches so they had more of a say and are eating much better. I could always make sure they had a good breakfast but I can see the worry if kids are going to breakfast club as well as having lunch at school.

Like everything it's a collaborative approach with school. They helped keep an eye when I asked, I made changes to suit my kids ( more work for me) but it resulted in less food waste and kids were actually eating which helps with attention and learning.

At the school I worked at dinner sessions only had 2 midday supervisors, 2 TA's and in the lower years (Reception to Yr 3) the class teacher for the 1st 15 mins. For 60 plus children.

We could encourage children to eat, but we couldn't force children to eat. Also we had to teach them how to use cutlery, sit at a table and not to mention one the main reason they didn't eat the food is because it was different to what they ate at home.

Just to add reception children lunch was at 11.45 so of course come 3pm they were hungry

They definitely can’t win on this one.

Parents will complain if children are asked to eat a bit more and parents will complain if they’re not!

In our school, the lunchtime staff ask children to raise their hand when they’ve finished, they check the plate and, as long as the child has tried to eat, allow them to go. I’ve seen older children get their food from the pass and walk straight to the bin to scrape it in then vanish outside, it’s always flagged and they will be asked about it but the level of waste is ridiculous.

That's the thing. Their job is to help ensure no one dies at lunchtime. Sounds strange to say it but it is. So they don't need the distraction of force feeding kids

Primary school or secondary? Big difference. In primary I'd expect supervisors to be gently encouraging the infants at least to eat and correcting any bad habits. If my child really wasn't eating well I'd expect a supervisor/teacher to have a quick word with me about it. In secondary I wouldn't expect any supervisor to have the slightest bit of interest in what or how my child is eating unless there's any glaring behavioural problems or eating disorder. In neither school would I expect someone to force my child to eat or stop them leaving to enjoy their precious and limited playtime without my prior agreement.

Yes me too and I’m in my 60’s!
Unfortunately school dinners were ghastly then and still terrible when I worked in a school a few years ago.
It always makes me laugh when people talk about children needing FSM to have a nutritious meal; it’s all white carbohydrates. A sandwich and a piece of fruit is much healthier.