to complain about the state of the school lunches?

I think school catering is in a very difficult position between offering wholesome food and food children are actually going to eat. They're not particularly well paid jobs and have to adhere to all sorts of food safety ceremony which eats into their time.

My child complains bitterly that the cutlery and plates the food comes on isn't properly clean.

Since the kids have smart phones on them anyway it would be handy to see some pictures.

I worked briefly in a school kitchen and promptly withdrew DS from most school dinners. I was shocked at the quality of the food and the jacket potatoes were by far the best option.

Some stuff was done really well like homemade bread and the puddings were decent. The meat for the mains was awful reconstituted stuff and usually cooked until it was like leather. The fish fingers and fish stars barely contained any fish.

The children barely at any of it, we would be disposing of two bin bags worth of food every single day.

I would write formally to the head and the chair of the board of governors.

Good nutrition is essential for good educational outcomes and healthy development.

I think the problem is budgets are so tight. £2.50 also has to pay for the kitchen staff etc. I know some school kitchens that cut costs by ordering cheap meat etc. Is packed lunch an option?

I work in a school and our dinners are nothing like that, pizza is made with fresh made dough every time for example.
Parents order the meals for their children at the start of the week or the day before so we know how much to make of each thing- we don't run out.
I think a lot depends on what the cook is like to be honest. Ours is very good.

I've seen school dinners ranging from delicious to awful. The best were when the school employed their own kitchen staff but that's more expensive so unusual nowadays.
It's worth checking who the providers are and writing to them. They have to reapply for their contract fairly regularly so making a complaint can sometimes achieve something. MPs can sometimes be interested too.

Most schools here do orders in advance and children choose each day so they know what they are getting and it stops frood running out so I wouldn't think it unreasonable to suggest a similar idea be implemented at your child's school.

However if the food isn't great this probably won't help the situation so I'd suggest doing packed lunches is the only realistic solution to the problem.

I am in a school canteen everyday.

I advise your child to choose the jacket potato every single day. And make sure they accept a pudding and help themselves to the bread and salad to bulk out the food.

The actual main courses are small and vary in how good they are. The other day I genuinely couldn't cut up the quiche for a child as it was so hard!

I couldn't recognise the 'burrito' initially I assumed it was a spring roll
The Friday fish fingers are soggy and the chips often burnt.

Actually the roasts are pretty popular as is the Mac and cheese.

There is one pasta dish that is so spicy all the kids scraped it into the bin.

If I notice a kid eating absolutely nothing I go and get them extra bread.

Genuinely the only safe and filling option is the jacket potato

Do your school not take orders in advance? That would be my recommendation and that's what our school does. Kids need to order in the morning (or parents can do it in advance) and that way the kitchen knows how much of each item to prepare.

I think portions are bigger for the older children compared to the lower years but it all depends on how much your child eats and how fussy they are. Working in a dinner hall there is a lot of food waste e.g pizza usually comes with sweetcorn and proper chunky wedges. A lot of children won't eat the sweetcorn or the potato wedges and throw them in the bin, which would mean they are hungry as their meal is small through their choices.

You say yourself the menu sounds good on paper, so actually maybe what your children report might not be the case if they do what children I describe above do.

I used to be a school governor and had to go I to school to assess the meals. They were actually fine and a good sized portion.
Yours sound grim and I would complain if I were you. I don't know how these companies do the food for the budget though, increase in staff costs must be taking up most of the money they get.