Free school meals

[Jellycatspyjamas]

The area that I’m in offer free school lunch to every child from P1-P5, generally a couple of options of hot meals and a sandwich/packed lunch type choice. Today the school sent out a message reminding us of the entitlement to free lunch also saying that children who brought a packed lunch from home would be given a free packed lunch to take home at the end of the school day. Is it just me who finds that really odd - if the child is bringing lunch from home they’re not likely to need a meal to bring home, and aren’t likely to eat a second packed lunch.

I don’t get the logic, any ideas?

To save waste maybe. As they don't know day to day who will take thier own and their foos would have been pre ordered.

Does the area offer free lunches because the kids' families aren't very well off? My child might not eat the food on offer at school so I'd send a lunch to ensure he's eaten but it would save me a lot of money if I could have his free sandwich for my tea.

It’s a local authority policy to stretch free school meal provision to P5, the local authority is quite big with a very varied socio-economic profile. Some families would be reliant on free school meals, while others won’t be but it’s just part of universal provision. It’s possible they want to reduce waste, it just seems like an odd way to achieve that. It maybe that parents might value the sent home lunch, especially if they may not eat otherwise which given the pressures on finance, may well be the case.

It probably is to reduce waste, although it’s a strange way of going about it.

To save on the administrative work or to give people the option if one week they can't afford to send packed lunch.

But if they can’t afford to send a packed lunch there’s a free lunch available at school. They’re only sending lunch home with kids who have brought their lunch with them that day, which feels a bit like “you’ll have a free lunch whether you want/need it or not”.

Maybe it's to help those families where the parents have to send in packed lunches as their kids don't like and therefore won't eat the school ones?

Certainly in my Dd's reception class where school lunches are free, the only kids who have packed lunch multiple times a week are picky eaters.

Are you in South Lanarkshire?

They've made free school meals for all pupils up to primary 5, but the school my kids go to dont send a lunch home if you send in a packed lunch so that's not a universal policy. Must just he your school choosing to do it.

We get free school meals p1 - p4 but only if you eat at lunch. It’s an interesting idea maybe to reduce waste. Perhaps their funding depends on every child receiving a meal. No meal means no funding and it makes planning hard. Tbh school lunch is a tiny roll with ham or cheese, fruit, carton of milk and a tiny bit of baking with no sugar, fat or flavour. I’d just use it for snacks tbh.

I used to work in a school where they had children eat a roast dinner once a week - the waste was absolutely criminal. It used to really bother me.

Are you in South Lanarkshire?

No, I think there’s a few authority areas extending free school meal provision to P5.