School dinners cost to rise..

[Orangesandlemons77]

Had this in the recent newsletter, prices to rise anyone else?

Considering sending sandwiches in on some days. We use Parentpay and feel like I'm already often topping it up with £50... two teens,

We've been told ours are rising from £2.70 to £2.80 a day. I'm more annoyed that by the time my DD in Y3 gets to go to lunch most of the food is gone and they have a strange mix. Think roast with no potatoes just roast meat and pasta.

My son started a new school in January and wanted to try school dinners in his last week. Two school dinners cost over £6 and he didn't get the dessert on the menu because they had run out by the time he got lunch. He will be sticking to packed lunches. I just don't think they are worth it.

Oh ffs secondary school dinners are ridiculous already!

It's been cheaper this week to be honest as they have been home so having e.g. sandwiches. They're not that keen to take them for school lunches though. Maybe we can do it some days a week.

What I find adds up (Parentpay gives a summary of what they have bought) are things like drinks and snacks..as well as the lunches themselves

Can you get the drinks and snacks at least from the supermarket? In multipacks, the cost per item will probably be far lower than the school canteen, although it will take discipline or else you may find that you're spending similar money but the end result is that they're just eating/drinking more 'because its there' and you have to top up.

But even £2.50/3 a day is a lot to spend compared with a packed lunch unless it's actually buying them a decent meal, because you could take the same food (sandwich, drink and crisps/kit kat type thing) for far less from home.

Primary, ours our £2.90 per day which is fine, but the portion sizing is the same for a YR as a Y6, DTs are always bloody hungry when they get home.

Their secondary school next year is £3.50 for a meal deal.

Nope because they’re free in Scotland. Nursery- P5 (P6 & 7 after the summer holidays).

I agree it's the snacks that make the money go.
Ds buys one main meal and occasionally a drink or pudding. Cost <£3 a day.
Dd2 is quite capable of buying: 1 milkshake, 1 bag of crisps, 1 tub of popcorn, 1 juice carton, 1 cookie, 1 chocolate brioche at cost >£5 in a day. Not to mention the time her class was watching a film in history and she decided to buy as many tubs of popcorn as she could for them. Kind thought. £30 on popcorn was not my idea when I put the money on for her though.

However cost of food has gone up, and school dinners do go up normally over the year ime so it depends on how much as to whether it's unreasonable.

Yes one of mine is like that too. Sigh. I know it's not like they are eating anything special...well occasionally a baked potato and beans which is quite filling and hot for the winter, but more often a 'pizza panini' which is basically a bread roll with cheese and tomato filling I think.

Not Secondary though it seems. And they eat more..

as frustrating as it is with the rising cost of food it’s hardly surprising that the cost is being passed on is it? The margins for the meals is already so tight where else do you want the money to come from?

I’ve got 3 and they all take lunch (actually that’s not true, dd1 Is nearly finished college and she either takes lunch, is home, or goes out during her lunch and buys something).
The lunches offered at our junior school are awful, truly dire. They frequently run out of something as described by a pp so by the time the last yeargroup come there’s only random items left that don’t make a cohesive meal and possibly don’t quite make the cut of the recommended portions from the right food groups as they’re supposed to.
DS has refused to have a school lunch in the whole time he’s been at school, to be honest I don’t blame him, they look and smell vile!! Plus the portions are very small considering the small year 3’s are served the same as the biggest ones 4 years older and it’s not even always enough for the tiny ones. Added to that the fact that so much of it gets binned and their parents feel that ‘well they’ve had a hot meal for lunch, they can just have a light dinner’ and then are utterly confused how their kids can put away so many snacks and a main meal…
Yeah I’d switch to a packed lunch. I don’t think mine are necessarily cheaper than a school meal but they’re a lot bloody nicer!

Everything seems to be free in Scotland.

The things that add up are things like doughnuts sold for 90p and tiny cartons of banana milk for £1. The actual dinners themselves are reasonable value for money normally.

You can cap ParentPay, you can also specify when the money can be spent.

DS used to use it as soon as he got to school having a good breakfast and then spend the rest of the day in a dead faint for the want of food, so I had it changed to break or lunch only.

My dc are in primary and the school lunches are £2.90 a day, my two have packed lunches as the school dinners are a bit crap tbh. I'm quite shocked at £50, how long will that last them op?

Schools aren’t immune to the rise in food prices

Can't you put a limit on the account so they can only spend a certain amount per day? £30 on popcorn is ridiculous and milkshake/crisps/cookie don't make a proper lunch.

Ours have gone up to £2:25 in primary school. I wouldn't have minded if they actually met the goal of adequately feeding an 11 & 9 yo, they were getting the same portions as the 4-5 yos. I took my two off because a growth spurt put DS1 down to the 3rd centile onto the cusp of being underweight. I've bought a food flask each and they're taking in things like meatball pasta, stews, chicken curries and the daily cost is no more for something of similar nutrition and actually fills them with the energy they need. DS is up to a much healthier 11th centile, has colour in his cheeks and more energy and the vertibrae of his spine are now sensibly sized through his skin. He's also coming out of school in a better mood many days because he's not ravenous.

I don't object to paying for decent food, but since switching caterers, that's not what they've been getting.

Yes. I've just checked out menus and they have cookies and muffins at 1.40.. DC having these in monring break along with meal at lunch time... sometimes 2 packs fruit flakes for 70p each (think they're cheaper in packs from e.g. poundland or the supermarket)

Neither are keen to change to sandwiches though bit might ask them to just get lunch and send a snack in with them I have bought in advance.

I mean sometimes the lunch itself is 1.40 which is fine (baked potato) but spending that on snacks daily is a bit much.

Why do people allow their kids to buy snacks with their school dinner money?

I never allowed that. If they wanted snacks they could bring them from home, or use their pocket money on the way to school.

I would go nuts at my kids spending that much on snacks. How about telling them there’s £X for the week and they can either spend it on snacks at school or buy them from the supermarket and take them in and keep the rest of the money? They’re still eating the same junk but will be less likely to waste it if they can cash in a bit.

Agree with Worral just say no snacks ... if you don't trust your DC to make sensible choices they they have a packed lunch (regardless of whether they 'like it' or not) every day. My DS never had school meals. Why waste money?