How much do secondary school dinners cost you a week?

[MsWalterMitty]

My son has just started yr7 and at the rate he’s going it’ll be approx £20 a week.

How much do your dc spend weekly and do you have spending rules?

I'd insist he either takes lunch or the break snack with him and pays for the other one. 20 a week is a lot.

About £20-£25 a week with a snack or hot sandwich at break. Packed lunches just meant another thing to carry round all day and their friends had lunches so I didn’t want them to feel different.

No choice here but to have school meals and it is £5.25 a day, even if they choose the jacket potato option rather than the 2 course cooked meal.

My son started today and I was shocked he spent £3.90 on a sandwich, cake and drink. I don't know why I thought it would be cheaper than that! At this rate of spending its nearly £20 a week which I think is a lot so I'm going to let him settle in and then look at maybe sending him with a drink or snack and let him buy his main.

Secondary school it's £2 and a bloody amazing menu. At least 6 main meal options a day. DD is a first year and finds the portions very intimidating because they're far too much but I reminded her they're for huge 17 year olds as well.

Primary is £1.90 a day. Food's okay but DS finds it really bland. He gets a packed lunch instead.

Eldest secondary child (14) buggers off down the village street for hers and takes £2.50 a day so she can buy a sausage roll from the bakers and a coffee from the coffee shop.

I don't mind the £10 and £12.50 a week.

Wow I never realised how cheap our meals are here. It's a drink plus a starter and main or main and dessert for that £2.

Bargain.

Can somebody tell me why there’s such a variation in prices? I’m in an area in the northwest which is regularly described as one of the most deprived areas of the uk (so presumably the dinners should be cheap). There’s a pp who said a panini costs her dc 90p. For 90p my dc would get a biscuit, a panini would be 2.70. I thought schools weren’t allowed to make money off dinners (if that’s what mines doing).

I can't believe how dear it is, that's gonna be £80 a month for most folks?

Mine get £3 a day which I pay for a month in advance. If they overspend they need to take a packed lunch from home until it's top up time (pay day). Seems to work OK so far.

It's the break time snacks and drinks (if not in a mealdeal) which seem to bump the price up. Both of which can be brought in from home.

My eldest is starting year 8 this week. He loves his food and would sometimes go a bit overboard last year. Even when he is being sensible and only buying a meal and a drink he can easily spend £15-£20 a week. I do not think his daily spend is unreasonable, it is the fact that it is five days a week for forty weeks a year that makes it unaffordable. I send him with a packed lunch on the days when he does not have games or home economics. That way he is not struggling to carry extra things but we can halve his weekly spend.

Dc1 just started year 7. Day 1 he spent £4.50. DH didn’t agree with me that we need to set him rules/budget until I pointed out that we take lunch to work because we don’t want to spend £4.50 a day in lunch!

So we’ve said he can buy a ‘first course’ but take something for pudding and any snacks and only drink his water.

£2.50 for 2 courses inc one drink. Then ds will buy another 2 drinks at £1.20 which adds up.

Now he takes a chilly bottle